


The Weight Of Us

by Totalpanik



Category: White Collar
Genre: AU, Gen, Kid Fic, kid!Mozzie, kid!Neal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-01-07 00:37:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 26,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12222183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Totalpanik/pseuds/Totalpanik
Summary: After their mother’s death 8 year old Mozzie and 4 year old Neal are taken in by their uncle, Matthew Keller. Their uncle doesn't reallt care about his nephews and Mozzie is forced to take care of both himself and his little brother.When a FBI agent shows up in their lives, offering to help will the brothers accept his help?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn’t really planning on writing another fic but I recently read a fic with deaged Neal and Mozzie and I fell in love with the idea of them as kids.   
> Then I imagined them as brothers and this is what happened.   
> I wrote this first chapter and if people show interest in it I will continue it.   
> Also English is not my first language so all mistakes are mine.

The young boy’s stomach growled and as he checked his wristwatch he realized that it was dinnertime already. That meant that he had to wake up the sleeping beauty in their bed and drag said sleeping beauty out in the cold to get some food. It sounded simple in theory but in reality, he was going to have to deal with a tired, cranky four-year-old.   
But he didn’t have a choice, there were no food in the apartment and he couldn’t leave his brother alone, if Neal woke up alone he would have a total meltdown, believing that Mozzie had abandoned him.  
Mozzie walked over to the bed and shook the tiny boy’s shoulders. His brother groaned.  
“Tired”  
He mumbled but Mozzie kept shaking him until he revealed his baby blue eyes. Neal tried his best to give Mozzie an angry look, but despite his best efforts he still looked adorable.  
“Come on, we have to get some food”  
“Not hungry”  
“It’s going to be dark soon”  
That statement was enough for the cranky kid to reluctantly get out of the bed.   
It always did the trick, since Neal was absolutely terrified of the dark. 

They walked into a local diner and sat down in one of the booths.   
A waitress approached their table with a skeptical look on her face.  
“Aren’t you two a little too young to be here all alone?”  
“Our dad had to work overtime so he told us to get something to eat. He works over there”  
The lie naturally left Mozzie’s mouth as he pointed towards the coffee shop across the street.   
It was most likely his confident answer and the matching pair of innocent smiles that made the waitress believe the lie and give them their menus without further questions.   
Mozzie picked up his menu and looked through it.   
It was rare for him to be able to look at the menu and not worry about the prices.   
For once Mozzie had a whole bundle of money in his pocket, and it felt good to not worry about money for one night.   
Although he was far from proud of how they had gotten hold of the money.  
The brothers had been walking down the street when they encountered a man sitting in a slouched position on the ground. The man was nothing more than skin and bones and he had big, thick sunglasses covering his eyes, indicating that he was blind.   
In his bony hands was a piece of cardboard with a shaky, handwritten plea for money.   
Mozzie had told Neal to grab some of the money from the dirty bowl placed in front of the man. His baby brother had asked if it was really okay, because the empathetic little boy could see that the man was clearly in need of money and help.   
His brother was still learning to read so he couldn’t understand the sign so it had been easier for Mozzie to insist that it was fine.   
Neal had an immense trust in his older brother so he walked to the bowl and grabbed two handful of bills and putting them in his pockets.   
Mozzie hated that Neal had to perform this horrible act, but if they got caught it was easier to claim that he didn’t know any better. Neal’s babyface and puppy eyes was enough to convince anyone that he was just an innocent little kid not realizing that he had done something wrong.   
Mozzie was less adorable and if he got caught red handed, he guessed people would be more willing to call the police or worse; contact their uncle.  
Their uncle wouldn’t be mad at them for stealing, he would just be mad that they were stupid enough to get caught.   
Luckily no one saw Neal’s theft and the two boys could walk away. Mozzie had almost felt proud until he heard a quiet, hoarse ‘thank you’ behind him.   
The sound of their footsteps and the rustling of money must have made the poor man think that they were giving him money, not taking it from him.   
That made Mozzie feel sick to his stomach and if it wasn’t for the fact that he needed to feed his little brother then he would’ve returned the money without thinking twice about it. 

The two boys left the diner with their stomachs full and Mozzie actually felt content, a feeling that disappeared the second they stepped into the apartment and spotted their uncle sitting by the table, practicing chess.  
Mozzie immediately tensed up, it was impossible to know what kind of mood their uncle was in.   
The man wasn’t cruel per se, he could actually be pretty nice from time to time.   
Sure he left the children alone without food for sometimes days on end, and he didn’t really care about his nephews but at least he wasn’t the kind of bad person who used the children as punching bags.   
No their uncle Keller wasn’t one for psychical violence, but on the few occasions that he did lash out Mozzie had been able to take every single blow so that his brother didn’t have to.  
Keller was more into playing games and messing with their minds, and in a way that was just as bad especially for young Neal who was still so innocent and naïve.  
The worst part was probably that the man liked to use the children for his own gain, in this case use them in his various illegal activities.   
The boys had done everything from crawling through small spaces to distracting security guards while Keller made his move.   
None of the kids enjoyed it and the late nights was the reason that Neal was so exhausted all the time, but they had no choice but to help their uncle. Mozzie knew what would happen if their uncle threw them out, they would end up on the street which was not a safe place for kids to live or they would end up in the system with the risk of being separated.   
So they just had to endure, because this was better than the alternative.  
At least they always had a roof over their heads and thanks to their stealing they never went to bed hungry. 

Mozzie helped his brother off with his jacket before he brushed some dark curls away from the boy’s eyes, he really needed a haircut.   
“You should get ready for bed”  
He told him and the kid quietly complied, normally Neal was always putting up a fuss about bedtime, he didn’t want to go to bed even a second before Mozzie no matter how exhausted he was but with Keller in the room the boy didn’t dare to protest.   
“You should stop babying him”  
Keller said in a casual tone as soon as the younger brother was out of earshot.   
Mozzie refrained from answering, he knew that he was very overprotective when it came to Neal but he was the only real family he had left, and besides he had promised.   
It was the last thing he ever said to his mother, the very last words that their mother had ever heard.  
‘I’ll take care of Neal, I promise’.  
Of course when he made that promise he had already been taking care of Neal for over a year, he had been more of a parent to the kid than their mother had.   
The 7-year-old gave up his childhood in order to care for the 3-year-old but also for the pale, fragile woman who were stuck in her bed, getting sicker for every day that passed.   
He had long since forgotten what it was like to be just a kid and not a caregiver.  
An hour later, after playing a round of chess with his uncle and Keller telling him about his next job which would involve the kids, Mozzie could finally go to bed.   
He smiled when he saw his brother, Neal had managed to fallen asleep while sitting up on the bed.   
He had most likely waited for Mozzie but had lost the fight against sleep.   
Mozzie shook his brother shoulders and the kid jerked away, looking around in confusion before his eyes landed on Mozzie.  
“Waited”  
Neal said. For some reason the four-year-old often only said one or two words at the time, and despite Mozzie’s best efforts the boy refused to learn to use full sentences   
He pulled back the covers and the two boys crawled into the bed. The younger clutched a teddy tightly in his arms while the older wrapped a protective arm around his brother.   
They had made it through yet another day, and they were one step closer to being old enough to get away from their uncle.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really happy for all the positive response to this story so of course I decided to continue it. Hope you'll like it.  
> All mistakes are still mine.

Mozzie groaned as someone shook his shoulder, trying to wake him up.  
“Go away”  
He mumbled and the person stopped shaking him but seconds later he heard a whimper which caused him to sit up, now wide awake.  
Mozzie looked around the room, looking for any danger, before his eyes landed on his little brother who was curled up next to him, chewing on his teddy’s ear.  
“You okay, Neal?”  
“Hungry”  
The boy answered before he continued to chew on the teddy. Mozzie grabbed his wristwatch from the nightstand and raised his eyebrows in confusion when he saw that it was already 10 AM, normally he’d wake up hours earlier and normally he would have had Neal fed by now.  
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”  
“No wake up”  
Neal answered and Mozzie frowned, normally he would wake up from the slightest sound from Neal. It looked like Neal wasn’t the only one exhausted from their irregular sleep schedules.  
“Hungry Mozzie”  
Neal repeated, giving him a puppy look and Mozzie felt bad for sleeping so long.  
“I know buddy, let’s go get some breakfast”

They walked through the city for a while before finally spotting their perfect target.  
Mozzie had counted his money, and even though he had enough for buying breakfast he decided he’d rather save it to buy a proper dinner for them.  
Mozzie watched the man standing behind the hot dog cart for a while, he was smiling and he seemed very friendly which was one of the reasons why it was perfect target.  
“You know what to do Neal?”  
The younger boy nodded before leaving Mozzie’s side.  
Neal started to run and as he was passing the cart he pretended to fall and immediately started to cry.  
The man ran to help the boy without hesitation which gave Mozzie free access to the cart, and when he was sure no one saw he grabbed two hot dogs.  
“Where does it hurt?”  
“Knee”  
He kept an eye on the man and Neal all the time and froze completely when the man rolled up Neal’s pantleg and he could see that Neal had managed to hurt his knee for real this time.  
“Hold on, I’ll get a napkin”  
The man got up and Mozzie unfroze just in time to disappear from the cart before the man had turned around.  
Mozzie waited on a park bench even if he just wanted to run back there and make sure Neal was okay, but this was the way he had decided to do it just to make sure that he wouldn’t be caught.  
Soon he could see the four-year-old coming towards him and he got up from the bench and ran to his baby brother.  
“You okay?”  
The boy nodded and rolled up his pantleg showing that the man had given him a band-aid.  
Mozzie released a sigh of relief before he handed the boy his hot dog and they sat down to eat. 

When the boys were full they walked around the city, playing wherever they could and went into every store that seemed fun.  
They didn’t really have much else to do, it was either waste some time out in the city or sit in the apartment with nothing to do.  
Their lives were pretty repetitive in that way. Every day was about finding food and make the time pass and then repeat it all the very next day.  
They walked into a toy store, a store that Mozzie hated. Toy stores were always filled with other children that had their parents with them and every time Mozzie saw them he felt incredibly jealous.  
Why do they get to have parents but not him and Neal?  
It just wasn’t fair.  
Luckily Neal didn’t look at the other customers, he was too occupied looking at all the toys.  
His brother never asked for anything though, he knew they didn’t have money to spend on unnecessary stuff and it was too many people around to manage to steal something.  
He liked to watch the toys though, maybe his brother was imagining what it was like to have some of those toys, maybe he was imagining what life would be like if they still had parents.  
After leaving the store they returned home. Mozzie knew that their uncle’s heists could take several hours and they needed to get at least a little rest before going out in the middle of the night. 

Neal however didn’t believe that he needed to rest, he completely refused to take a nap.  
Mozzie wanted to bang his head against the wall and he felt like a frustrated parent.  
His brother had been crying and screaming for almost half an hour now and Mozzie had tried everything from comforting him to being strict but nothing worked.  
He feared what would happen if Keller came home right now, their uncle had made it clear that he thought that the children should behave like obedient little puppies.  
Mozzie only had one thing left to try, and he hated using it. Threats.  
“Neal if uncle Keller comes home now and hears you screaming like this, he will send us away and we will never see each other again”  
The threat was perhaps a little too harsh but it did the trick. Neal stopped screaming even though the crying continued, but now the tears were caused by fear and not anger.  
The younger boy threw his arms around his big brother.  
“No wanna”  
The boy sniffled and Mozzie ran his fingers through Neal’s dark curls.  
“I know Neal. I don’t want to be separated either but that means we have to behave and be good for our uncle okay?”  
The boy nodded  
“Hate Keller”  
“Me too kid, me too”

A loud bang woke Mozzie up from his nap and he sat up in bed, looking around him in confusion.  
He looked at his watch, their nap had been longer than expected and it was already afternoon and late enough to eat dinner.  
“Neal, you need to wake up”  
He said before actually looking next to him, finding the bed empty and his heart immediately started to beat faster.  
Mozzie didn’t like not knowing where Neal were, and the fact that their uncle could show up any second did nothing to calm him down.  
He opened the door and spotted Neal who was trapped in Keller’s arms, looking like he was going to burst into tears any second now.  
Neal and Keller didn’t go together, the youngster was terrified of their uncle while Keller couldn’t understand the way four-year-olds worked. He didn’t know how many times their uncle had gotten angry because of Neal not talking in sentences or just from Neal whining. He expected Neal to act just as maturely as Mozzie did.  
“Finally, you’re awake”  
Their uncle commented when he spotted Mozzie and Neal gave him a desperate look.  
“You better get ready because we’re leaving in five minutes”  
Keller commented before he put Neal down in order to replace the child with a bag filled with tools.  
Neal ran to Mozzie and hid behind his brother.  
“Already?”  
“The feds got tipped about our heist so we’re doing a back up plan.”  
The FBI were on Keller’s trail? That wasn’t good, what if they found him and took him away? Then they would be forced into the foster system anyway.  
“But we haven’t eaten yet. Neal needs to eat or he’ll get cranky”  
“I don’t care, all I care about is that you two don’t mess this up. If you do then you will be very sorry”  
Mozzie was about to question what he meant by that when he saw Keller lift a gun and tuck it away in the waistband of his pants.  
Mozzie swallowed hard, hoping that wasn’t meant for them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the absence, I've just been really low lately and it's been hard to find the motivation to write, but I finally managed to get a chapter together and I hope you will like it :)

As per usual the kids and their uncle was picked up by Keller’s partner in his old, grey van.  
The boys were forced to ride in the back of the van, which wasn’t only uncomfortable and unsafe but the whole van smelled like something had died in there.  
The smell was most likely from Keller’s partner, that smelled and looked like he had never taken a shower in his entire life.  
Mozzie climbed into the van and placed himself in a corner where he could hold onto some sort of handle placed on the van’s wall, so that he could at least feel a little secure.  
Then he pulled his little brother onto his lap and placed his free arm around Neal’s waist to make sure that the younger boy had some security as well.  
Mozzie had found that this was the best way after an incident where the boys were sitting regularly in the van only to be sent flying into the when the driver made a sudden, violent halt.  
Both of the kids had ended up with a concussion and Keller had put the blame entirely on them, claiming that their safety was their responsibility.  
So Mozzie ended up taking it upon himself to make sure that they were as safe in the back of the van as they possibly could. 

The van finally stopped at its destination and they were free of the uncomfortable van for now.  
Keller’s partner went into the museum first to do whatever it was that he did. Mozzie wasn’t sure what the man actually did, and he wasn’t even sure what part Keller played in their heists, they were rarely on the actual crime scene.  
Keller and the boys walked in a couple of minutes later, trying to look like a father and his two kids in order to blend in.  
Once out of sight from the museum staff by the entrance, Keller gave them clear instructions on what they were going to do.  
“Don’t mess this up”  
Keller said in a threatening tone before resting his hand where Mozzie had seen him put the gun. Was it an intentional gesture to scare Mozzie or was it just a pure coincidence?  
Mozzie didn’t know and he really didn’t want to find out, so he just took Neal by the hand and walked up the stairs.  
It wasn’t hard for the two boys to conjure up some fake tears, it was like they had a natural talent when it came to acting, or maybe they just had a natural talent when it came to tricking people.  
In the end it was probably both.  
They walked, hand in hand, to a museum staff member who was keeping an eye on the exhibit.  
She immediately looked concerned when the young boys came towards her with crocodile tears running down their cheeks.  
“Hi sweethearts. Are you lost?”  
“We can’t find our daddy”  
Mozzie said with a sob and the woman immediately forgot about the exhibition to help the children, which gave Keller the opportunity to walk into the room unnoticed.  
“Where did you lose him?”  
She asked and Mozzie started to tell her about visiting another exhibition and how they were playing around and then suddenly their dad was gone. He dragged the story out, making it unnecessarily long in order to give Keller as much time as possible and luckily the kind woman didn’t interrupt him even once.  
She just patiently listened to the little boy’s rambling until he was done and then she suggested that they would go downstairs to the information disk and have someone call out a message for their dad.  
Mozzie agreed and they followed the woman but they just made it to the staircase when they heard a voice behind them.  
“Boys!”  
Keller ran towards them and once he reached them he crouched in front of them, pulling the kids into a bone crushing hug.  
Then Keller got up and gave the woman a thankful look.  
“Thank you for taking care of them. I left the room for a second to take a call and when I came back they were gone. I was so worried”  
“Oh it was no trouble at all. I’m just glad you found each other again”  
The woman was genuinely concerned about them and that made it so much harder for Mozzie to not feel guilty. It was always harder deceiving the nice people.  
“Is he okay?”  
She suddenly asked and Mozzie looked to his side to notice that Neal hadn’t stopped crying, in fact he just seemed to be crying more.  
It seemed as if his fake tears had triggered real ones and that wasn’t good.  
Mozzie was about to hug his brother and try to calm him down but Keller beat him to it.  
Their uncle picked Neal up and hugged him to his chest.  
“I’m guessing he got very scared”  
Keller said and the woman nodded in understanding, it seemed as if she believed his excuse.  
“Shh, it’s okay little guy. Daddy’s here”  
Keller’s voice was so unbelievable soft and warm that he actually sounded like a comforting father. It reminded Mozzie of their father, and all the times that he comforted Mozzie when he was upset.  
Neal never really got to experience what it was like to have dad, since he was only two when their own dad passed away and his little brother had not a single memory of the man. 

As soon as they reached the van, Keller put the still crying child down on the ground.  
“Your stupid crying could have messed this all up!”  
Keller yelled, causing Neal to take a step back in fear.  
Mozzie pushed away his own fear and decided to try to defuse the situation or at the very least redirect Keller’s anger on to himself.  
“I told you this would happen”  
Mozzie said, sounding way angrier than he had planned to. He was angry, he was very angry.  
He was angry because Keller used them like puppets without caring for their needs and when they didn’t have the chance to satisfy their basic needs like hunger, they were bound to act differently, especially Neal who was still too young to really control his emotions.  
“I told you that he would get cranky without food but you-“  
“Shut up, Mozzie”  
Keller interrupted him before pushing the boy to the ground. Mozzie’s body hit the concreate and he groaned from the pain. Despite the pain he still forced himself to stand up again, only to see that Keller was now pointing a gun at Neal.  
Mozzie knew that he should do something, he should jump in front of his brother or something but he completely froze. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak.  
Then Keller’s finger was placed on the trigger and he swore that his heart stopped when Keller pressed the trigger.  
He closed his eyes waiting for the loud sound but instead all he heard was a click of the gun and then Keller’s laugh. Neal let out a terrified whimper and that sound was enough for Mozzie to get over his shock and he ran to his brother, throwing his arms around him.  
He was suddenly overcome with guilt.  
Neal could’ve been shot, his only family could’ve been killed and Mozzie didn’t protect him.  
He looked back at Keller who was tucking the gun away again. Did the man know that the gun wasn’t loaded or did he just take a guess?  
Mozzie felt more disgusted by Keller than ever, he had pointed a gun at his own nephew without even hesitating.  
Keller met his eyes and gave him a big smile, as if nothing had ever happened.  
“You guys can walk home”  
Their uncle said before he jumped into the van and within seconds the two boys were left alone on the parking lot outside a museum with no idea where they were or how to find their way home.


	4. Chapter 4

Mozzie held his little brother tight in his arms as the kid cried.   
He looked back at the museum, considering going back and asking for help.   
Unfortunately, he realized that he couldn’t do that because going back meant explaining their situation and he didn’t even want to think about what Keller would do if he found out.   
After tonight Mozzie was certain that their uncle wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of them if they became too much of a burden for him.   
So, despite feeling both lost and scared he had to hold back the tears and be strong in order to keep himself and Neal safe.   
He patiently waited for his brother to calm down before he grabbed his hand and started to walk the same way the van went, hoping that it would eventually lead them home.   
He just hoped that they would make it there before the dark fell over the city.   
They had only been walking for about ten minutes when Neal abruptly stopped, refusing to continue walking.   
“Please Neal, don’t be difficult”  
He pleaded but the younger boy just ignored his older brother and instead looked across the street.   
“We need to continue”  
Mozzie followed Neal’s gaze and realized why he had stopped.   
Across the street was a fast food restaurant and Mozzie knew that Neal wouldn’t move an inch until he had eaten.   
The only reason they were walking right now was because of Neal’s hunger and Mozzie had to admit that he was pretty hungry himself, so he saw no other choice than to stop and eat and then hope that they would still be able to make it home before nightfall.   
“Okay Neal, we can-“  
He didn’t even get the chance to finish the sentence before his brother’s face lit up with a big smile and the boy immediately decided to bolt across the street.   
Luckily Mozzie had quick reflexes and he managed to grab his brother’s hand in the last second and prevent him from getting hit by a car.   
It was far from the first time he had to stop Neal from running right out on the road, and he knew that it wouldn’t be the last.   
Despite being told countless times that it was dangerous, he kept on doing it and every time he almost gave Mozzie a heart attack.  
It was harder for Mozzie this time though, considering the fact that just minutes earlier he had failed to protect Neal from getting shot and just the thought of what could have happened if Mozzie hadn’t grabbed his brother in time made him want to throw up.   
“How many times do I have to tell you?!”  
He said, his voice way louder and way harsher than he expected. Some of the people passing by stared at him but he ignored them.   
“You could get hit by a car and die Neal! Do you even stop and think about that?!”  
His brain conjured up a way too realistic image of his little brother bleeding out on the street and he could feel tears burning in his eyes.   
His brother looked guilty and mumbled a quiet apology but Mozzie didn’t believe it, he knew that this would be far from the last time he had to save Neal from his own carelessness.   
Mozzie firmly grabbed Neal’s hand and dragged him to the crosswalk. 

When they had finished their meal and walked outside, Mozzie realized that they only had an hour or two to find their way home before nightfall.   
He also realized that the chances of actually finding their home within that time was small.  
Mozzie really didn’t want to sleep on the street, where anything or anyone could hurt them when they had let their guards down, but they would both get tired soon.  
Mozzie’s mission went from finding the way home to finding a place to sleep where they wouldn’t be attacked or draw attention to themselves.   
He started to think about their options but was soon interrupted by a honking behind them and then a very familiar van pulled up next to them.   
The window rolled down but instead of seeing Keller’s taunting face they saw his partner looking at them.   
“Jump in kids, I’ll drive you”  
Mozzie couldn’t recall the man ever caring about them before or even speaking to them, so this sudden act of kindness felt out of place.   
He knew better than to get in a car with a stranger, which the man practically was, but the alternative wasn’t much safer.   
They could either get a ride from their uncle’s partner in crime, that although very scary had never tried to harm the boys in any way, or sleep on the street where anyone could hurt them.   
Mozzie looked at his brother who was clutching the tiny lion toy, he’d gotten with his meal, tightly to his chest and decided that he really didn’t want his brother to sleep on the street.   
Therefore, Mozzie took a huge risk and accepted the ride. 

The man didn’t say anything, he just drove in silence while Mozzie anxiously looked out the window trying to find anything he recognized so that he would know if they were going the right way or if Mozzie had made a huge mistake.   
He calmed down as he slowly started to recognize the surroundings and soon the van stopped outside the apartment building they called their home.   
“Thank you”  
“What Keller did wasn’t right”  
The man answered and looked at Neal and Mozzie thought that maybe this man had a heart after all.   
The boys jumped out of the van but before the door closed, the man established eye contact with Mozzie.   
“It’s going to be okay, kiddos. Tomorrow will be better, I promise”  
There was something with his voice, he sounded so sincere as if he knew that tomorrow would actually be better for them and Mozzie really wanted to believe the man but he also knew that as long as Keller was around they would never be able to be truly okay. 

A loud bang woke Mozzie up and he sat up with a start.   
It felt as if only a second had passed since they made it inside the apartment and collapsed on the bed, but as Mozzie looked around he realized that it was morning.   
Another loud bang was heard and Mozzie jumped, thinking that it was Keller and that the man was pissed off.   
Then he heard shouting and several footsteps.   
Mozzie grabbed his still sleeping brother and managed to get both Neal and himself under the bed before the door opened and someone walked inside.   
He held his breath as someone walked over to the bed and he clearly saw a couple of black shoes stop right in front of them.   
His little brother suddenly whined, not happy with the rude awakening and scared of what was going on. Mozzie swore under his breath before putting his hand in front of Neal’s mouth and hoping that by some miracle the man hadn’t heard the noise.   
Mozzie’s hopes were short lived because the man had heard it and suddenly he crouched down and then the man was face to face with the kids.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally managed to get another chapter together and hope you will like it.  
> I would also like to take the time to wish you a merry Christmas (or happy holidays if you don’t celebrate Christmas) :D
> 
> I also decided to change the POV for this chapter and I hope you won’t mind :)

Special agent Peter Burke groaned as the blaring alarm clock awoke him from his slumber, he reached out and turned it off. Despite wanting nothing else than to close his eyes again and sleep for a few more hours, he forced himself out of the bed.  
He walked into the bathroom and took a quick shower before walking the dog who was eagerly waiting by the front door.  
It was the same repeteitve routine every single day; he woke up, he took a shower, he walked the dog, he had breakfast with his beautiful wife, they both went to work, they got home, ate dinner, watched tv, walked Satchmo and then they went back to bed.  
Peter loved his life, he really did but he also longed for something to break the everyday routine, something in the form of a child.  
They had tried and tried, only to find out that Elizabeth couldn’t get pregnant.  
It had been a tragic day for a Peter but Elizabeth had managed to stay positive, and instead she started to talk about fostering or adopting.  
They had gone as far as becoming foster parents and remaking the guest room before it all really sank in for Elizabeth. She had been standing in the middle of the room with a teddy bear in her hands, and then she had fallen to the ground. El had a complete breakdown and after that she had stopped talking about children all together.  
His wife had suddenly been convinced that it was a sign from the universe saying that she wasn’t meant to be a mother, and no matter what he told her she wouldn’t change her mind.  
Despite his longing for a child, Peter had to patiently wait until Elizabeth felt ready and until then it would just be him, his wife and their dog. 

At work he spent most of his time trying to catch a person, or perhaps several persons, that had committed several thefts over the past months.  
Every single one of the crimes had been done with careful planning and without even a single slip up, which meant that they weren’t any solid leads in the case.  
The camera had always been tampered with and not a single person had ever seen anything suspicious, on top of it all the stolen items had always been replaced with a perfect forgery and it could take days, even months before the theft was even discovered.  
In the end they didn’t know who was committing the crimes, when they were doing it or how.  
It was a particularly frustrating case, especially since they had no way of predicting when or where the thief, or thieves, would strike again.  
Peter was sitting alone in the conference room, staring at the whiteboard as if a hidden clue would appear out of nowhere if he just stared at it long enough, when his phone started to ring.  
He hoped that it was Elizabeth who had somehow senses that he needed some cheering up, but that hope died as he saw the unfamiliar number on the display.  
“Burke.”  
“FBI man.”  
A rough, slurred voice responded and Peter had to hold back a sigh, he really wasn’t in the mood to deal with a man that seemed completely wasted.  
“I wanna tell you something, FBI man.”  
“Yeah? And what would that be?”  
Peter decided to humor the man, even if he felt that in the end it would only be a waste of time. The man continued the conversation by saying that Peter needed to visit an apartment, and Peter sarcastically answered that of course he would check it out.  
The drunken man started ramble, and it was at that point that the phone call went from annoying to important in the matter of seconds.  
At first he had not even been paying attention and had even considered hanging up, before he head the man mention the name of a museum that had been robbed a while back.  
Peter started to really listen to the man and he realized that the drunk was describing one of the thefts in great detail, mentioning things that not even the FBI knew.  
Sadly he didn’t give Peter anything that could help him get closer to solve the case but he did give Peter the realization that the man was somehow important to the crimes and this was not just a random drunken call.  
When the man finished he repeated that Peter needed to go to the address and this time Peter took it seriously, grabbing the nearest notebook and writing the address down.  
“What’s in the apartment?”  
“Something important.”  
The man answered cryptically before the call ended and Peter was left wondering what on earth could be in that apartment.

Normally Peter would’ve taken a step back and assessed the situation, after all there was a chance that this was a trap and the important thing waiting for them in the apartment was something dangerous, but he was really desperate for any kind of progress in the case.  
So, he gathered a couple of agent and soon they were on the way to the location.  
Peter just hoped that it wasn’t something dangerous and that this would be worth their time.  
Hopefully they would find something in that apartment that would aid their investigation and help them apprehend the criminal, or criminals.  
The apartment was located in a pretty good neighbourhood, and not the stereotypical bad neighbourhood where you’d imagine all the crimes would take place.  
Peter knocked on the door but as expected no one opened, and there were no sounds from the inside so they forced the door open before entering the small apartment.  
Apart from a chessboard placed on a kitchen table and four chairs the main room was empty, despite of this Peter ordered the agents to search the room while he walked towards what he guessed was the door to a bedroom.  
Just like the rest of the apartment the bedroom was empty, apart from a bed and some clothes thrown on the floor.  
He looked around and spotted something sticking out from under the covers and walked over to the bed, frowning when he realized that it was a teddy bear.  
Peter picked up the teddy but froze as he suddenly heard a sound from under the bed, it sounded like a whimpering puppy.  
He abandoned the teddy and instead he got down on his knees and looked under the bed.  
Instead of seeing a criminal hiding or a scared puppy he came face to face with to blue eyed children.  
Suddenly the teddy bear made perfect sense and alarm bells rang in his head when he realized that the two kids, who looked pretty young, was here all alone.  
Maybe they were the reason they were here, the man had said that they would find something important and if two young children left unattended wasn’t important he didn’t know what was.  
Peter smiled at the kids, that looked absolutely terrified, and showed them his badge.  
“It’s okay, I’m from the FBI.”  
He told them with a calm, comforting voice but the kids didn’t look any less terrified and Peter wondered if they even knew what the FBI was.  
“I’m almost like a cop. I won’t hurt you, I can help you.”  
They still didn’t move and Peter frowned, he thought that they would calm down once they realized that they weren’t in any danger.  
“I’m not going to leave until you come out.”  
He tried with a little more authority in his voice, while wondering if they even spoke English. After a couple of seconds however, the kids reluctantly crawled out from under the bed. 

They stood up and Peter could get a proper look at the two boys. There was an older boy, probably around 7 years old or maybe 8, with brown hair and a pair of glasses that looked like they had been broken and then taped back together several times. Then there was a younger boy next to him that couldn’t have been older than 3 or 4, he too had brown hair and his face was very similar to the other boy’s, which made Peter draw the conclusions that they were probably brothers.  
Both boys looked way too skinny and their clothes were old and worn, it didn’t take a genius to understand that they had been neglected.  
Peter heard footsteps behind him but before he had the chance to call out for the agent, Jones walked into the room with his gun drawn which caused an immediate reaction from the boys.  
The younger boy whimpered and the older boy responded by pulling his brother behind him and protectively shielding him with his body before looking at Jones.  
“Please put the gun down.”  
The older boy said, his voice strong and confident despite the fear in his eyes.  
Jones immediately obeyed the kid and looked at Peter with a questioning look but he just responded with a shrug before looking at the boys again.  
The older boy was hugging the younger tightly and he could hear him whispering comforting words to the kid.  
His gut feeling was telling him that their reaction and the fear in their eyes was more than a normal fear kids could have for weapons, something made him believe that these children had been through some bad things.  
Jones quietly reported that they had found nothing in the apartment, and since he couldn’t see anything else of importance in bedroom, he confirmed his previous suspicion that the boys were the important thing they were sent here for. The man hadn’t wanted to help the FBI in the case, he just wanted them to find the boys and save them, but from what?  
Or maybe save them from who?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I got really inspired all of the sudden and managed to get another chapter together and I hope you will like. 
> 
> I would like to thanks for all the comments and kudos and then I would also like to wish you all a happy new year and hope that 2018 will be a great year for all of us :D

The man showed them his badge and told them that he was from the FBI, but that did nothing to calm Mozzie down.  
Sure, it was better than their angry uncle or some criminal showing up but he didn’t trust the FBI either. If the agents found out about their situation they would try to “help” them, which meant that they would get into the foster system.   
The agent made it clear that he wouldn’t leave them alone and Mozzie saw no other choice than to crawl out from under the bed, Neal following suit.  
Another agent decided to join them but this one had a gun in his hands, which caused Neal to whimper next to him.   
The incident with Keller was still fresh in Mozzie’s mind, but this time he would protect Neal instead of being frozen in place like last time.   
He pulled Neal behind and he felt his brother’s tiny, shaking hands clutch the back of his t-shirt.  
“Please put the gun down.”  
He asked the agent, relieved when he listened and put his gun back in his holster.   
As soon as the gun was safely tucked away, Mozzie dared to turn around and throw his arms around the shaking boy. It was obvious that the incident with Keller had really traumatized him.   
“It’s okay, they’re not gonna hurt us. I won’t let them.”  
He said in a whisper, despite knowing that even if the agents wouldn’t hurt them physically they had definitely the power to hurt the boys in other ways.   
When Neal had managed to calm down a bit, Mozzie turned around and looked at the agents again.  
He knew that the agents wouldn’t leave two kids all by themselves, but he also knew that they couldn’t go with them, so his brain started to construct a plan to get them out of this situation.   
The agent that had found them took a careful step closer to them before establishing eye contact with Mozzie.   
“Do you know where your parents are?”  
“No.”  
“Do you know their phone numbers?”  
Mozzie shook his head and the agent paused for a second, most likely thinking about what he should do.   
“How about you guys come back with us to the bureau and we’ll contact your parents?”  
“Okay, but can we please use the bathroom first?”  
The agent nodded and Mozzie grabbed his brother’s hand before going to the bathroom, locking the door behind him.  
“Okay Neal, we have to go with them, but as soon as we get outside we’re gonna run as fast as we can.”  
Mozzie explained his plan to Neal, it was far from a perfect plan but it was the best he could do.  
The apartment was on the third floor with no way of escaping through the windows, which only left the front door as the exit and it would be hard for them to sneak out through the door without any one of the agents noticing.  
So, running was they’re only option because they couldn’t go to the bureau, since it would be even harder to escape a building with agents everywhere.   
“They help.”  
Neal answered, and Mozzie let out a frustrated sigh. It was in situations like this that he really wished that Neal would speak more so that they could have a real conversation.  
It was not like he couldn’t use more words or talk more often, he just didn’t want to.   
There was even a time when Neal would never be quiet, and he would drive both Mozzie and their mother insane with the constant babbling, but then their mom got sick and Neal had just stopped.  
Sure, Mozzie had gotten used to his brother’s limited amount of words but sometimes it was really frustrating.  
“Listen Neal, we have to run.”  
“No, they help.”  
Mozzie let out another frustrated at his brother’s sudden defiance.   
It was rare for Neal to be defiant, he had an immense trust in Mozzie and believed that whatever he did, it was for their best.   
When he was defiant it was always stupid little things like running into the road or throwing tantrums but he never questioned decisions regarding their well-being like this.  
He knew that Neal was scared, scared of Keller, scared of living on the street and Mozzie knew that because he was just as scared as Neal, but he also knew better than to trust the agents.   
“Neal, they won’t help us, they will just split us up!”  
There was always a chance that someone out there would be willing to take on two kids, but it wasn’t worth risking everything for that small chance.   
Keller had told them that most people wanted the cute, young kids, which meant that people would want Neal more than they would want him.   
In that way his little brother had a good chance at ending up in a good home, but despite knowing that he couldn’t let Neal go because he couldn’t picture a life without his brother by his side.   
“We run.”  
Neal finally said, he didn’t want to lose his brother either.

The boys followed the agents outside and as soon as Mozzie saw their opportunity, he gave Neal a subtle signal. They took off before any of the agents even had the chance to react.   
Mozzie ran as fast as he possibly could, his mind only focused on getting away from the agents.   
He didn’t know what to do once they managed to escape, they couldn’t return to the apartment and he had no idea where their uncle was, Keller didn’t live in the apartment with them but they had never been allowed to see his other home.   
He wasn’t even sure if it would be a good idea to return to their uncle or if he should just accept their fate and live on the street.  
Mozzie never got the chance to make that choice because suddenly he heard a shriek behind him, and he abruptly stopped.  
He turned around and saw that the same agent that had found them was now holding Neal in his arms, having caught the much slower boy.  
None of the agents tried to go after Mozzie, they had apparently understood that if one of them were caught, the other one wouldn’t continue without them.   
Mozzie walked back to the agents with slumped shoulders, the plan had never been perfect but he had really wanted it to work.   
“Why are you trying to run?”  
The agent asked but Mozzie didn’t respond, he just stared at the man.

Mozzie and Neal was sitting in the conference room while a couple of agents stood outside, probably talking about what to do with them.   
They had been provided some paper and pens while they waited and Neal was happily drawing away while Mozzie was nervously biting his nails.  
He had thought about their situation on the ride here, and he found that there was only one real option for them, but a pretty lousy one at that.  
Escaping was no longer an option, especially not since the agents would now be watching them like hawks, and he would not risk getting separated from Neal which left only one option, their uncle.  
The man would be absolutely furious since the FBI was literally Keller’s worst enemy right now and they were about to bring him closer to them than ever.  
Mozzie had no idea what their uncle would do to them, but he knew for sure that the man was not going to easy on them.  
The door opened and one of the agents came inside, while the other two stayed outside.   
The agent sat down in one of the chairs and looked at the kids with a friendly smile on his face.  
“My name is Peter.”  
The man introduced himself.  
“What’s your names?”  
Mozzie could hear his uncle’s voice in his head telling him to lie, but he had to provide the right information so that they could confirm that Keller was their legal guardian and release them in his care.   
“I’m Mozzie and my brother’s name is Neal.”  
Peter’s smile widened as Mozzie cooperated with him and the he looked at the younger brother, who had stopped drawing and was watching them intently.   
“How old are you, Neal?”  
Peter asked, trying to involve both of them in the conversation but of course Neal didn’t open his mouth, he did however, after an encouraging nod from his big brother, show Peter four fingers.  
The man then turned to Mozzie asked the very same question, and in order to make Neal feel less nervous, he held up seven fingers before saying that he was eight.   
Neal immediately started to giggle at his brother’s mistake.  
“Wrong!”  
His little brother managed to get out between the giggles and Mozzie pretended to be shocked before counting his fingers and gasping when he realized that Neal was right.   
Luckily Neal still had his childish innocence and it was easy to make him happy and distract him in serious situations.   
Sometimes Mozzie wished that he could be just as innocent and naïve and not carry all the weight in his shoulders, but for their protection and survival he had to be skeptical and mature.   
The agent watched the brothers with an amused smile until Mozzie was ready to focus on him again.   
“Boys, we need information about your parents so we can find them. They must be really worried about you two.”  
“We don’t have parents, Peter. We live with our uncle.”  
“What’s your uncle’s name?”  
“Matthew Keller”

The other two agents, called Jones and Diana, was sent to look up Keller and returned a while later with records showing that Keller was indeed related to them and their legal guardian.  
After that Mozzie had managed to convince Peter to leave the room and let him call Keller.  
Neal had gotten tears in his eyes the second Mozzie mentioned their uncle, he had realized that the plan was to go back to the man who almost shot him.   
For now, Mozzie had to ignore his brother’s feelings, Keller was for the moment a necessary evil.  
He apologized to Neal and was slightly alarmed when instead of answering, he got up and left the room, but calmed down once he saw that Neal only wanted to show his drawing to Peter.  
Mozzie was glad that he had memorized the number to Keller’s “special cellphone”, which was the phone he used to contact his contacts and apart from Mozzie, only criminals knew the number.  
It was the safest bet considering Keller always answered that phone.   
“Keller.”  
“Hi it’s me Mozzie.”  
“How did you get this number?!”  
Keller’s tone immediately changed into an angry one when he realized that it was just his nephew calling and not someone important.   
“The FBI came to the apartment.”  
Mozzie said, deciding it was best to not beat around the bush.  
His uncle went silent, and for a second Mozzie thought Keller had hung up but then the man exploded.  
“Why are you calling me?!”  
“You need to pick us up at the bureau.”  
Keller just started to laugh while Mozzie took a deep breath before he did something that would surely get him killed.  
“If you don’t come pick us up, I will them everything I know about your crimes.”  
Threatening Keller was simply something you didn’t do, and Mozzie knew he would now have to fear for his life but it worked.   
Keller said he’d come, but Mozzie could clearly hear the absolute hatred in his voice and all he could do now was to simply hope that he would make it through this alive.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I’m back.  
> I apologize for the absence, I’ve just been struggling a lot with my depression lately so it’s been hard to find the motivation to write.  
> That being said I can’t say that this is the best I’ve ever written but I did my best and hopefully you’ll like it.

Something was very off, there were too many unanswered questions.  
Why were the boys left alone in that apartment, where were their uncle and why did they try to run away? Maybe the most important question of all was; could two innocent little children somehow be connected to the strings of robberies?  
Why had the unknown caller brought up the robberies?  
Why didn’t the caller just call the NYPD and tell them that there were two kids left by themselves?  
Why did the caller want to involve the FBI?  
Peters thoughts were interrupted when he felt a light tug on his jacket and when he looked down he saw that the younger of the boys had left the room and was now looking at him with his big, blue eyes.  
“Hey, buddy.”  
He greeted but the boy didn’t answer him, instead he just took his drawing and handed it to Peter.  
The drawing depicted a brown haired man with a black suit, holding what looked like a FBI badge.  
“Is this me?”  
He asked and the kid nodded eagerly.  
“It’s really good.”  
Peter said and he didn’t lie, sure it was far from a masterpiece but for a four-year-old it was incredible. He had even signed it, his name written in big, sloppy letters and the E was turned the wrong way. It was simply adorable.  
Peter tried to give it back to Neal but the child shook his head and gently pushed his hands back.  
“It’s for me?”  
Neal nodded again and Peter smiled as he thanked him.  
Maybe he should bring it home and let it work as a subtle way to make his wife think about children, and perhaps get her to yearn for one again.  
The kid looked back at his big brother who was occupied with the phone call before he looked up at Peter again, this time with a pleading look on his face.  
“Card.”  
Neal said and Peter frowned in confusion.  
“What?”  
“Number card.”  
They just looked at each other for a couple of seconds before Peter realized what the kid was asking for.  
He took his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out a business card.  
“You mean this?”  
Neal nodded and Peter gave the card to Neal who tucked it away safely in his pocket.  
This raised even more questions, why did Neal want a business card? Did he think that they needed to contact him?  
Peter crouched down in front of the boy and looked into his eyes.  
“Neal, are you and your brother in danger?”  
The four-year-old looked like he wanted to answer him, but instead of doing so he looked back at Mozzie, who had finished the call and was now looking at them through the glass.  
Neal dropped his gaze before turning around and walking back into the conference room, leaving Peter with more questions than answers.

As soon as Matthew Keller stepped out of the elevator, Peter knew that something was off with the man. His gut was telling him, or rather yelling at him, to not trust this man.  
Therefore Peter pulled the man aside immediately, asking him all kinds of questions in order to find something to make his bad feeling about the guy justified.  
Keller however could answer every single question with ease, either the man was telling the truth or he had been rehearsing his story very well.  
Peter didn’t mention the phone call that had led them to the location, because he didn’t want to spook the man, if he was in any way involved.  
Apart from the phone call and Peter’s gut feeling nothing were telling them that Keller was unfit as the children’s guardian.  
He couldn’t refuse to give the kids back to their uncle without a single proof that they were being treated badly, so he reluctantly told Keller to stay put while he went up to fetch the boys.  
As a last attempt to prove his gut right he looked the boys right in the eyes and asked them if they were really okay.  
“Don’t worry, suit.”  
Mozzie said and Peter frowned at the nickname.  
“We’re fine.”  
Both of them smiled at him and Peter sighed.  
“Okay your uncle is waiting for you.”  
He said gesturing towards the bullpen and Mozzie walked past him while Neal surprised the agent by throwing his arms around his legs.  
“Bye.”  
Neal said before following his brother down to the bullpen.  
The kids ran to their uncle, who enveloped them in a big hug.  
The three of them looked like a happy family, and for the first time in a very long time Peter started to doubt his gut.  
At least he did until the second before Keller and his nephews walked into the elevator.  
Neal turned around and looked right at Peter, and the terror he saw in the boy’s blue eyes made him think that he had just committed a huge mistake. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Neal returned into the room, Mozzie immediately made sure that his brother hadn’t said anything to the agent. Luckily his brother seemed to realize that they couldn’t trust these people, and that being separated would be way worse than Keller.  
Their uncle would probably be mad for a while, and then eventually he would get over it and things would go back to normal. At least that’s what he hoped, that’s what always happened but then again their uncle had never been this mad before.  
Keller walked into the bullpen and Mozzie felt chills run through his body, he could already sense the rage behind the man’s fake smile.  
“Okay Neal, we have to pretend that we’re really happy to see uncle Keller.”  
The younger seemed to hesitate, not at all a fan of this plan.  
“Please Neal, it’s for our best. I promise.”  
Even if he still looked very uncertain he finally nodded, trusting that his big brother knew what he was doing.  
Soon the agent returned into the room and established eye contact with them.  
“Are you boys sure you’re okay?”  
Mozzie was surprised by the fact that the suit actually sounded like he cared, and for a second he actually doubted his plan before a voice in his head told him not to trust the man.  
“Don’t worry suit. We’re fine.”  
He promised before he passed the agent, only to stop when he noticed Neal’s absence.  
His brother hugged the agent’s legs and even said bye to the man.  
Neal seemed to have taken a liking to the man, which was very rare especially when it came to adults.  
Since their mother passed away, Neal had been shy around other people than his brother and the only time he even spoke to strangers were when they were pulling some stunt to get money or food.  
He wasn’t sure if he should see the attachment as a good thing or a bad thing. 

Their uncle was dead quiet as they left the FBI building, but the anger was radiating off him and he made sure to keep a tight grip on their hands so that they wouldn’t run away from him.  
He dropped Mozzie’s hand for a second as he hailed a cab and he noticed his hand was red from his uncle’s iron grip.  
“Get in.”  
Keller ordered with a low voice and the boys immediately jumped into the taxi, not daring to hesitate for even a second.  
The driver turned around and looked at the children with a concerned gaze.  
“Sir, I don’t think it’s safe for them to be riding in the taxi without car seats, especially the little one.”  
Without a word, Keller reached into his pocket and retrieved his wallet and handed some money to the man to shut him up.  
The driver looked at the kids with a sympathetic look before he started to drive and Mozzie could only roll his eyes.  
Since day one their uncle had been clear with the fact that he didn’t care for their safety at all, even since before their mother died.  
Keller had absolutely adored his sister and would have done everything for her, but he absolutely despised her cop husband and her sons. 

The taxi took them to a new apartment building, since the FBI knew about the old apartment it was officially “burned”.  
The new apartment was very similar to the previous one, it was small and very bland which made Mozzie believe that this wasn’t where Keller used to stay either, how many places did their uncle have?  
Mozzie couldn’t help but notice that there was a padlock on the bedroom door and it didn’t take a genius to realize why it was there.  
They walked into the bedroom and he was surprised to see Keller’s partner waiting for them, but he was even more surprised that the man wore a sad expression.  
Their uncle’s partner grabbed the plastic bag, that was placed by his feet, and dumped the content out on the bed and Mozzie was glad to see that it was their clothes that had been left behind in the other apartment.  
He was very relieved to see that Neal’s teddy was lying in the pile of clothes, he didn’t want to spend even a single night without that teddy.  
His little brother had an odd relationship with the teddybear, Neal loved that teddy at the same time that he didn’t care for it at all.  
When it was daytime it was nothing to him, and it had happened way too often that he carelessly misplaced the teddy but then nighttime rolled along and if the teddy wasn’t right by his side he would throw an epic tantrum and wouldn’t stop crying and screaming until he had the teddy or until he had completely exhausted himself.  
Mozzie’s thoughts were interrupted when Keller’s partner suddenly grabbed his arm.  
“What are you doing back with him? You were supposed to be with the feds!”  
Keller’s partner said in a low voice.  
The man’s words last night ‘tomorrow will be better’ repeated in his head and Mozzie made the connection.  
“You’re the one who contacted the FBI.”  
Mozzie stated in confusion, not understanding why the man would do such a thing.  
“Why?”  
“I tried to save you from him.”  
He was yet again reminded of yesterday when the man had said that what Keller did to Neal was unacceptable, apparently the man had cared so much that he risked freedom or possibly his life if Keller found out what he had done.  
“I’m sorry but we can’t be in the system, we can’t get separated.”  
The man was about to answer him but quickly close his mouth again as Keller walked into the room and all it took was a look from their uncle to make his partner leave the room.  
Their uncle crouched down in front of them and gave them a small, creepy smile.  
“You two are going to stay here, and you’re going to behave and you’re going to be quiet, understand?”  
Mozzie recognized Keller’s tone all too well, it was that eerily calm that the man had when he was beyond furious and when you heard that voice you should not say anything wrong.  
“Understand.”  
Mozzie answered, not dumb enough to question him and send him over the edge.  
“Good and what about you, Neal?”  
“U-understand.”  
Stuttered his brother, which caused Keller to smile wider before standing up and walking out of the room.  
He heard Keller lock the door, and then lock the padlock he’d spotted earlier.  
Mozzie understood why Keller had locked them in, he didn’t want them to end up in the claws of FBI or the police and he no longer trusted them to not rat him out, but despite understanding the reasons he really hoped they would be let out soon.  
At least before they had been allowed to come and go as they pleased, but being trapped in this room without anything to do they would sooner or later make them feel like tigers trapped in a way too small cage and they would end up losing their minds. 

Mozzie had a hard time falling asleep that night, he kept worrying about the next couple of days.  
He knew that next couple of days would be horrible but then Keller would get over it. He hoped.  
Their uncle had to get over it, he couldn’t stay mad at them forever, right?  
He started to ask himself if he had made the right choice or if he had made a horrible mistake, but one look at his brother, who was fast asleep next to him, told him that he had made the right choice.  
The alternative was sleeping on the street, freezing, scared and exposed to all the danger the city had to offer, or not having his brother next to him at all.  
Just the thought of being taken away from Neal made him terrified and he reached out for him, and enveloped the warm body in a hug.  
Mozzie closed his eyes and tried to convince himself that if he just held on to his baby brother tight enough, then he could protect him from all the horrors of the world.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for another long wait, I’m still struggling with my mental health at the same time a lot of things are going on in my life but I will try to update sooner next time.  
> As always thanks for all the comments/kudos it always makes me very happy.  
> All mistakes are still mine.
> 
> Just to be safe I am going to put a TW for child abuse on this chapter and probably some future chapters as well

When Mozzie woke up the next morning, Neal was already awake and was quietly playing with his teddy bear.   
His brother noticed that he was awake and looked up at him, and Mozzie could immediately see by the look on his face that something was wrong.   
He didn’t have to wonder for even a second what it was, because he felt the hunger too.   
He then realized that they had been to occupied with the whole FBI ordeal and then facing Keller to eat anything at all yesterday and now they were stuck inside this small room, without any food at all.   
Mozzie wasn’t sure what hurt him the most, the hunger he felt himself or the fact that his brother felt the same hunger as well.  
He prided himself with the fact that he had never let his little brother go hungry, he had always made sure to get Neal fed, every single day since their mother got too sick to cook.   
Mozzie suddenly felt like a terrible brother and he hoped that Keller would return to the apartment and not just leave them here to starve to death.  
At least Neal stayed quiet and didn’t whine, but Mozzie knew better than to believe that it would last for much longer and he was soon proved to be right.  
Unfortunately, Neal had the same attention span as all four-year-olds and the teddy could only entertain him for a while, and once it was put aside, the lack of other entertainment caused Neal to start his whining, despite his best efforts not to.  
“Mozzie.”  
Neal pleaded, hoping that his big brother would be able to get them out of this situation, but Mozzie had no idea what to do and he was afraid to admit it.  
He had always done his very best to never show his fears or insecurities to his baby brother, he had constantly made Neal believe that he always knew what he was doing and that he always had a plan.

Mozzie spent hours, or maybe it was just minutes, it was hard to tell without a watch, thinking about a way to break them out of the room or a way to make Keller forgive them.   
Normally Mozzie used to be quick on his feet and could always come up with some sort of plan, but now his mind had come to a complete standstill and he couldn’t even come up with a bad one.  
“Hungrryyyy.”  
Neal whined, dragging out the word, and something inside Mozzie just snapped.   
He was tired of the constant whining and Neal’s inability to understand that Mozzie did the best that he could and that he was just as hungry as Neal.  
“Shut up, Neal!”  
He yelled but immediately regretted it, Mozzie knew that it was the hunger getting to him but he didn’t see that as an excuse to be mean to his little brother.  
Neal was clearly both surprised and frightened by the yelling, it was rare for Mozzie to show any aggression and even rarer for him to show it towards Neal.  
“I’m sorry Neal, I didn’t mean it.”  
He said but his brother didn’t answer, instead he just started to play with his teddy again, avoiding to even look at Mozzie.  
Keller better let them out of this room soon or they would end up driving each other mad and perhaps that would end up breaking the strong bond between the brothers.

It was several hours later that they finally heard a door open, then some footsteps and lastly the sound of their door being unlocked.   
The door opened and Mozzie had never been so happy to see his uncle before.   
“Aw, why the long faces?”  
He asked in a mocking tone and the brief happiness that Mozzie had felt over his uncle’s presence disappeared just as fast as it had come.  
Mozzie didn’t get the chance to answer, his stomach did the work for him.   
“If you want to get some food, you’re going to have to earn it.”  
He looked back at Neal who had started to chew on the teddy’s ear, and he sighed as he realized that he would be forced to play along if he wanted to be a good brother.  
Sure, they wouldn’t die if Keller didn’t feed them today, they could survive another couple of weeks without food, but the hunger pains and Neal’s whining wasn’t worth it.   
So, he pushed away the need to show his anger to Keller, and instead he got up from the bed, showing that he was willing to earn his food.  
Keller, however, walked into the room and picked Neal up from the bed, the four-year-old releasing a surprised yelp.   
Mozzie felt his protective urges activate, while he was willing to do whatever it would take to get them food, he wasn’t willing to let Neal become a pawn in Keller’s games.  
Neal looked at him, and Mozzie could see the panic in his blue eyes, and it was hard for him to stay calm, especially when he noticed how tight their uncle’s grip around the small body was.   
Keller left the room and Mozzie followed him, not daring to let them out of his sight for even a second.  
Without any warning, their uncle opened a small closet in the hallway and forced Neal inside before shutting the doors on him.   
Neal immediately started to pound on the door with his tiny fists while yelling his brother’s name, desperate to escape the dark closet.   
“What are you doing?!”  
Mozzie exclaimed before rushing towards the closet, but Keller blocked it.   
“If you want your food, you have to make it through 10 minutes of being subjected to your greatest fears.”  
The darkness was truly Neal’s greatest fear, while his own was this situation.  
Mozzie’s greatest fear was to know that his brother was scared, to hear him desperately call for help, to know that his little brother needed him, but he couldn’t help him.   
It was unbearable to listen to Neal’s crying, and it didn’t take long for Mozzie to sink to the floor and start to cry as well.   
Keller was just standing there, leaning against the closet door with a big smile on his face.   
Normally when people got angry they would yell and they would get physical, but not Keller.   
He only lashed out physically when he was in a blind rage, otherwise he liked to show his anger by messing with them, making them suffer without physically harming them.   
Mozzie wasn’t sure what was worse, being used as a punching bag or being subjected to this kind of torture.  
The 10 minutes felt like 10 hours but finally Keller moved away from the closet and Mozzie got up on shaking legs and opened the closet door.   
The poor kid was sitting in the corner, curled up into a ball while shaking like a leaf.   
“Neal.”  
As soon as he heard his name, Neal threw himself at his brother and Mozzie hugged his little brother tight, ignoring the warm wet patch on his brother’s pants. 

The were told to return to the room while Keller got the food, and Mozzie helped Neal change his clothes before they sat down on the bed to wait.  
It took several minutes and Mozzie started to fear that their uncle had tricked them and they had gone through that horrible experience for nothing.  
Thankfully, Keller did follow through, he came into the room 30 minutes later and placed two happy meals on the nightstand.   
“I was even nice enough to leave the toys in there.”  
He informed them before he left the room, locking the door shut before leaving the apartment again, going off to god knows where.   
The food was cold, but they didn’t care instead they practically inhaled their food.   
Mozzie frowned his face in disgusts when he saw the two yellow characters they had received as their toys, he really couldn’t stand those annoying minions.   
Luckily, the annoying little minions managed to bring a smile to Neal’s face and as they went to bed that night, they were clutched tightly to his chest together with the teddy bear.   
Neal drifted off pretty easily, but Mozzie stayed awake for a long time with a knot in his stomach and thousands of worried thoughts in his head.   
He understood that Keller was pissed about the whole FBI thing, but there had to be some kind of limit.   
Mozzie hoped that their uncle wouldn’t continue playing these wicked games with them, even though he deep inside knew that their uncle was just getting started with his revenge.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed to get another chapter together despite all the things going on right now, kudos to me :P  
> As always thanks for the comments/kudos, it’s a big motivator and reading the comments are always the best part of uploading a new chapter, so thank you!
> 
> Just like last chapter this will have a TW for child abuse

Keller continued to play his little games, and the one meal they were served per day had to be earned or else they had no choice but to go hungry.   
The games were all emotionally straining on both of them but they got through every little “challenge” Keller gave them at least until a week had passed and their uncle decided to cross the line. He forced the four-year-old to stand against the wall with an apple balanced on his head while Keller was going to throw knives at the apple, just like William Tell but so much scarier because this was real.  
Neal had been paralyzed by fear as soon as Keller showed the three sharp knives and he didn’t dare to move, while Mozzie couldn’t stop imagining a knife hitting Neal’s forehead and killing him.  
He decided to pull the plug, he would rather let them go hungry than to let their uncle throw knives at his brother.   
In a calm, steady voice he asked Keller to stop but was ignored, no matter how many times he said the word ‘stop’, Keller threw the first knife.   
Mozzie instinctively closed his eyes, imagining that the knife had just killed his brother, but the seconds passed and he didn’t hear Neal falling to the floor so he dared to open his eyes.   
He felt relief as he saw that the knife had hit the apple and not his brother, but that relief was short lived as Keller got ready to throw the second knife.   
The second knife hit the apple and the third one hit the wall just a centimeter away from Neal’s ear.   
As soon as that third knife hit the wall, Mozzie rushed to his brother and threw the apple away from his head before hugging him at the same time that he shielded Neal with his body, just in case Keller decided to throw another knife when they weren’t ready.   
While he held Neal tight to his chest, he looked back at their uncle hoping to see some remorse on his face, Mozzie wanted to see if he was human enough to feel guilt over the fact that he had thrown knife at a little kid, but Keller was just wearing a smile that looked like it belonged to a Disney Villain.   
It was in that moment that all hopes about their uncle ever letting the out of here died, this was no longer about punishment this was about breaking them.   
Despite coming to the realization that Keller wasn’t planning on just punishing them and then let them go back to their previous life and despite the incredible hatred he felt for that man, he didn’t listen to Neal when he quietly begged his brother to get help.  
It’s not that he didn’t want help, he was just still too scared of being separated.   
There was a very real possibility that they could end up in abusive foster homes, but then they wouldn’t have each other.  
So in that sense, it was better to be tortured together than to be tortured apart.

The day after the knife throwing Mozzie came to face the most challenging game yet when their uncle told Mozzie to stand in front of Neal.   
“Hit him.”  
Keller then told him and Mozzie froze at his words.   
He had never hit Neal before, sure they had fought like siblings did with some light shoves and nudges, but he had never ever used any real violence on him.  
“No.”  
He answered, looking up at Keller with a determined look to show that this wasn’t something he was willing to do.  
“Hit him or I will.”  
His face fell and he looked at his brother who looked terrified of what was to come.   
Mozzie could either choose to hurt his own brother which would be emotionally hard for both of them or he could let Keller do it which would be a more severe punch.  
He knew that Keller didn’t really want to hit Neal, he didn’t get any enjoyment from harming the kid, but he did get a kick out of forcing Mozzie to choose.  
Their uncle had figured out the perfect way to break him, because that was what this was about if he managed to break them they wouldn’t dare to go against him again.   
Neal was easy to break, he was innocent and weak and he didn’t make any major decisions on his own.   
If Keller wanted to control them then he would have to break Mozzie, and since he had toughened himself up and been strong enough to take several beatings for his brother, his best bet was to use his kryptonite, Neal.   
Mozzie had to admit that it was working, every time Keller harmed Neal in any way, without Mozzie being able to stop him, it felt as if something inside of him broke.   
Apparently, he was taking too long because suddenly he saw their uncle lift his hand which made Mozzie to quickly punch Neal right in his face, his brother crying out and cover his nose with his hand.  
He cringed when he realized how hard his fist had hit his brother’s nose and he felt even worse when he saw that the hand Neal’s hand was stained with blood.   
“Good boy.”  
Keller praised with a grin on his face before they were ushered back into their room. 

Mozzie sat down next to Neal on the bed, feeling absolutely miserable as he looked at him.  
Tears was running down his cheeks, mixing with the blood smeared around his nose.   
His little brother looked completely broken, the spark he used to have in his eyes was gone and he just looked exhausted.  
This was all Mozzie’s fault, they had been inches away from being saved and he had chosen to go back because it was familiar, while the foster home situation was foreign and scary.   
His fear of being separated had caused him to put his baby brother in danger, instead of protecting him like he’d sworn he would do.  
“Please Mozzie.”  
Neal said in a wobbly voice as his shaking, bloody hand reached into his pocket and pulled something out.   
He gave Mozzie a card, Neal had smeared some blood on it but he could still read the name ‘Peter Burke’ and the phone number beneath the name.   
“Please.”  
Neal begged, and his small hand grabbed Mozzie, squeezing it.   
“Help us.”  
He sounded so desperate that Mozzie didn’t have the heart to say no.   
There was a tiny part of him that wanted to trust the FBI agent even if there was that clear, powerful voice telling him to not trust authorities.   
After a short, mental debate he decided to call the agent and not the police, because at least he could try to trade the information he had on Keller’s crimes for reassurance that they won’t split up.   
Getting a phone wouldn’t be too difficult, he knew that Keller had two phones and the less important one was always placed on the counter next to his keys, so all they needed was a distraction.   
He relayed the plan to Neal and when Keller returned half an hour later with their food, Mozzie got up from the bed, running out of the room.  
Mozzie ran as fast as he could out of the apartment and out in the hallway, hearing his uncle closing in on him.   
He had just reached the stairs when Keller grabbed him from behind before dragging him back to the apartment.   
Mozzie struggled as much as he could in order to delay their return to the apartment but eventually they made it back and he released a sigh as he saw that Neal was sitting on the bed in their room.   
Keller pushed him into the room, where their food had been dropped on the floor.   
“You are going to pay for that little stunt.”  
Keller growled before he slammed the door shut.   
“Did you get it?”  
Neal nodded and showed the phone that he had grabbed while Keller chased after Mozzie.  
He took the phone before ushering his brother into the bathroom and locked the door behind them.   
They didn’t have much time before their uncle would notice the phone’s absence, and Mozzie did not want to find out what the man would do to them when he did.   
Mozzie dialed the number on the card while his heart was racing in his chest, they only had one try at this.   
It felt like an eternity before he heard the agent’s voice.  
“Suit, it’s me, Mozzie!”  
He said, hoping that the agent would remember them.  
“Mozzie? Are you guys okay?”  
The suit had the same concerned tone that he had back at the office when he had asked them if they were okay, that made Mozzie feel a little better about his choice to call him.  
“No, we need your help!”  
He said as he heard the door, to their room, being unlocked.   
“Now!”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again people!  
> I'm sorry for the late update.  
> Long story short (and without bothering you with my problems), I just wanted to say that I am in a pretty bad place mentally right now and I'm really struggling to see the meaning with everything, sadly that also includes that I'm not really seeing the point of me writing my fics.   
> That being said, I'm not going to give up on my fics but the updates may take longer depending on my mental state.   
> Motivating comments is appreciated but of course in no way necessary.

CHAPTER 10

After the two boys had left with their uncle, Peter spent the following minutes trying to still the worry.   
He tried to be rational, sure Neal had seemed terrified but his brother had remained calm so maybe it was just the younger kid feeling anxious about something completely different?  
If their uncle was was hurting them in any way, why would they willingly go back to him when they had the chance to go somewhere else?  
He shook his head, realizing that none of his thoughts were helping him to calm down, the older boy could've been terrified without showing it and he knew that many abuse victims had, for various reasons, a hard time leaving the person abusing them.   
It didn't take him long to stop trying to be rational and instead doing what he should have all along, listen to his gut.   
It was screaming at him that something was very wrong and that Keller wasn't someone you could trust.  
He sat down at his desk and turned on his computer, knowing that if he let this go he would regret it for the rest of his life.   
Peter looked up Matthew Keller, trying to find anything that Diana and Jones might have missed but he came up empty handed.   
There was very little info about the man, apart from his connection to the boys and the address to the apartment they had found the kids in.   
If his gut feeling was right, and it almost always was, then if something was off then Keller wouldn't return to that apartment which meant that they had no idea where the kids were or if they were alright.

He brought Neal's drawing home with him and placed it on the fridge, telling his wife about his encounter with the boys and how seeing the drawing every morning would motivate him to continue to look for them and make sure that they were okay.   
Elizabeth had accepted the drawing but she was a little wary at first, and Peter watched her carefully so that she wouldn't become uncomfortable or upset.   
Even if the reason he told her had been true, and that he had wanted to use it as a tool for her longing for a child kick in again, he didn't want to make her feel worse.   
If she showed any signs of it making her sad, he would remove it and keep it in his office instead.   
He didn't need to fo that though because just the next monring he found her looking at the drawing with a warm, beautiful smile on her face.   
The wariness he had detected the day before had been replaced with a more comfortable feeling and it was the closest thing to that longing that he had seen in her for a while, perhaps this could be one step closer towards healing.

Peter spent every day trying to find some new information about Keller but apart from the from the things that they already knew, it was like he didn't even exist.   
He even looked up the boys' parents, but all he found was information about their deaths and nothing that could tell him anything.   
The closest thing he got to new information was an investigation about the death of their father, James, who had been shot in duty.   
It had been suspected that the death wasn't actually accidental and that it had been a planned murder, carried out by none other than his brother-in-law Matthew Keller.   
Many of his colleagues had witnessed arguments between James and Keller, they all agreed on that the two hated each other and they all believed Keller was capable of murder.   
There hadn't been enough evidence to support the murder theory, so Keller had never been charged for it.   
The only thing this told him was that Keller could be more dangerous than he thought and he really hoped that Keller hadn't been involved in their father's death, because if he had actually been capable of killing his brother-in-law then who's to say that he wouldn't be capable of killing his nephews?  
After reading about the investigation he found himself subconsciously scanning the newspaper for anything about two dead children.   
He wished now more than ever that he hadn't stopped the trio from leaving and saving the poor boys while he had the chance. 

He was walking down the supermarket aisle, trying to locate the specific brand of cookies that Elizabeth had asked for, when his phone started to ring.   
He retrieved the phone out of his suit jacket and looked at the display, he didn't recognize the number and for a second he considered not answering but quickly decided against that idea since it could be something important.   
“Burke.”  
He answered while he kept scanning the shelfs for the cookies.   
“Suit it's me, Mozzie!”  
The familiar nickname caused him to abandon his quest to find the cookies and instead focus on the phone call.   
“Mozzie? Are you guys okay?”  
Peter put down his basket on the floor, no longer caring about his shopping, while he started to walk towards the exit.   
He didn't know why the boy was calling him but Mozzie's voice sounded urgent, and since the kid hadn't seem to trust him at all, just the fact that he was calling meant something was seriously wrong.   
“No, we need your help!”  
Mozzie's words made him run the last meters to his car.   
“Now!”  
The kid added, and now he sounded very frightened.   
“Where are you?”  
Mozzie managed to give him the address before a loud bang was heard and the line went dead.   
For a second he froze in place while his mind tried to figure out what had caused that bang, but then he realized the emergency and started the car.  
Peter didn't know how many traffic laws he broke on his way to the apartment building but he really couldn't care less.

He sprinted up the stairs until he reached the fourth floor where he quickly located the right apartment number.   
Peter pulled his gun and checked the handle, finding that the door was unlocked so that he could easily walk inside.   
The gun was loaded and he was ready to shoot, but once he got inside he found the room empty.  
He walked into the small bedroom and his legs suddenly felt like jelly when he saw that the door to the bathroom had been forcefully kicked in.  
Had he been too late?  
Peter walked towards the bathroom, fearing that he would find an empty room or worse; find that Keller had made sure that the kids would never ever be able to tell anyone what had happened.   
His heart was beating fast in his chest and he held his breath as he stepped into the bathroom.   
At first he thought that the room was empty but then he spotted two huddled figures in the corner.   
The older boy was holding the younger in his arms, slowly rocking him back and forth while quietly whispering words that Peter couldn't quite hear.   
Peter took a step inside the room, and accidently stepped on a piece of wood from the broken door.   
The sound of the wood snapping caused both of the boys to flinch, Neal whimpered and buried his face deeper into his brother's chest while Mozzie looked up, sheer terror in his eyes.   
Mozzie visibly relaxed when he realized that it was him and not Keller, and then he ran a hand through Neal's brown curls.   
“It's okay, Neal.”  
The boy said in a soft voice and with his big brother's reassurance, Neal dared to look up.   
Peter felt a protective instinct when he saw that the younger boy's face was smeared with blood, presumably originating from his nose.   
Neal looked up at his brother, silently asking for permission, and even if Mozzie had some distrust left in his eyes, he nodded and his brother left his arms and ran over to the agent.   
The four-year-old threw himself in Peter's arms and he didn't hesitate to hug the little boy back.   
The hug lasted for a minute before Neal pulled back and his blue eyes met Peter's.   
“Safe?”  
He asked and Peter nodded.   
“Yeah buddy, you are safe now.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again people!  
> I just want to say thanks for the comments/kudos and especially thanks to the support I have gotten, it's amazing how some strangers on the internet can really brighten up my day so thanks.   
> A couple of weeks ago I moved to my very own aparment which is both good cause it gives me the peace and quiet I need for my writing but it has also been really bad for my mental health.   
> On a more positive note, I'm getting a cat this Saturday (a cat that happens to be one of the kittens our family cat gave birth too) and I'm really excited for his arrival.   
> I'm also very inspired in general right now so I'm hoping to update this story again in maybe a week or so.   
> Okay I'm going to stop ramble about my life so you can read the story.   
> Thanks for reading :)

CHAPTER 11

All it took was two, hard kicks for their uncle to kick in the door that had been protecting them from him.   
Keller walked into the room, looking more pissed than Mozzie had ever seen him before, while Neal was hiding behind his big brother, shaking like a terrified little chihuahua.   
“What the hell do you think you're doing?!”  
The question was asked in a low, menacing growl that sounded far too terrifying to be human.  
Mozzie wanted to hide too, but he knew that he couldn't because he had the great responsibility of protecting them.   
“I called agent Burke, the FBI will be here any second now.”  
Mozzie said, raising the hand that was still clutching both the phone and the business card.   
His words and no effect and the man just started to slowly walk closer to them, reminding Mozzie of a predator sneaking up on its prey.   
Keller was going to kill them, or at least hurt them very badly, and that was Mozzie's fault since he had failed to protect them and because he had rejected the help that had been offered to them.   
Mozzie put his arms around Neal and held his brother tightly before closing his eyes, waiting for the end to come.   
Keller reached them, Mozzie could feel him standing over them and he could smell that disgusting after shave their uncle always used.   
Just as Keller grabbed Mozzie's t-shirt, some wonderful person decided to slam their brakes outside and the sound of screeching tires sounded like someone, for example an FBI agent, in a hurry stopped outside the building.   
It was too soon to be the suit but Keller didn't know that and he let go of Mozzie's t-shirt, realizing that he had no way of hurting the boys and then escape before the agent reached the apartment.   
“Next time I see you two, I will put a bullet in your brains!”  
Keller threatened before he fled the apartment, leaving Mozzie to release a sigh of relief while silently thanking the driver that had slammed their brakes and unknowingly saved them.   
Now that their uncle was no longer an issue, he could focus on comforting his baby brother who was still crying.

Mozzie wasn't sure how long they had been sitting there when they heard the sound of someone stepping on a piece of wood.   
Neal whimpered in fear while Mozzie slowly turned around, fully expecting to see their uncle standing there.   
It wasn't their uncle though, it was agent Peter Burke and Mozzie didn't think he had ever been so happy about seeing an FBI agent.   
He turned to Neal and pulled his fingers through his soft hair.   
“It's okay, Neal.”  
He promised and his words gave the younger boy the courage to look up.   
Neal saw the agent and immediately turned back to Mozzie and he didn't need any words to make Mozzie understand what he wanted.   
As soon as he gave his approval the kid rushed over to the agent and threw himself in the suit's arms. It was hard for Mozzie to see how Neal had gotten so attached to this man, probably seeing him as a hero, because he knew that the suit would make sure that they had a place to stay and then he would disappear from their lives, inevitably breaking Neal's heart once he left.  
The suit was going to forget all about them, while Neal would miss him and constantly wonder why the man didn't come back, not understanding that the man he had gotten so attached to didn't care about him.  
“Is your uncle still around?”  
Peter suddenly asked, interrupting Mozzie's thoughts.   
“No he left, but he might be back.”  
“Okay let's get you back to the bureau, you'll be safe there.”  
Mozzie couldn't help but to scoff when Peter claimed that the FBI would actually be a safe place, sure it would keep them safe from Keller but Mozzie would never feel safe surrounded by the feds.

As they walked outside, the paranoid thoughts started to appear.   
What if Keller hadn't actually left?  
What if the man was hiding somewhere in the shadows, watching them as they left the apartment or even pointing a gun at them while they unknowingly walked to the suit's car?  
Mozzie grabbed Neal's hand and pulled the four-year-old closer to him, suddenly afraid that Keller could somehow get Neal if he took his eyes off him for even a second.  
The paranoia didn't stop when they got into the car or even when they were led into the conference room at the bureau.   
Even if Keller would never set his foot in this building again, Mozzie couldn't stop himself from constantly looking down at the bullpen, scared to see the man standing there or seeing one of his friends. 

The suit handed them some wet paper, so that Mozzie could clean the blood off of Neal's face, before he sat down at the table.  
“Was your uncle hurting you?”  
The agent asked, even if it was obvious that he already knew the answer to that question, and Mozzie answered with a nod.  
“Will he be a threat to you now?”  
“Yeah, he threatened to kill us.”  
Mozzie answered in a serious tone, making it clear that it wasn't just an empty threat.   
“Bullet in brains.”  
Neal mumbled while pointing at his head and Mozzie felt horrible over the fact that the innocent little four-year-old had heard that and he could see in the suit's facial expression that he thought it was just as horrible as Mozzie did.  
“We're going to protect you, alright?”  
The suit said but Mozzie had a hard time believing the man's words.   
“How?”  
“We're going to find you a safe place to stay where your uncle can't get to you.”  
“Together?”  
“I'm going to discuss our options with a social worker and hopefully we can find a place that will take both of you.”  
Mozzie looked over at Neal and saw that his little brother was thinking the exact same thing as him; hopefully wasn't good enough.   
They couldn't leave this up to chance, they just couldn't.  
“Suit I have a proposition for you.”  
“Yeah, and what would that be?”  
The agent asked with a smile, apparently amused by his use of “big words”.  
“I want to make a deal, you will guarantee that I won't be seperated from my brother and in exchange I will tell you everything I know about our uncle's crimes.”  
“Mozzie-”  
The suit started but Mozzie interrupted him by starting to list some of the addresses to the places Keller had robbed.  
The suit's eyes widened and Mozzie felt relieved, he had only been hoping that their uncle was part of a high profile case and judging by the look on the agent's face he was.   
“You know about those robberies?”  
“Enough for conviction.”  
The suit looked shocked, to say the least, and he seemed to have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that their uncle was the guy that he was chasing and that the kids was sitting on valuable information.  
“Okay I'll talk to the social worker. What do you know?”  
He said but Mozzie shook his head.  
“I was not born yesterday, suit. I won't talk until we are someplace safe.”  
Mozzie responded, not trusting the suit at all.   
He had learned that people took advantage of children usually being naïve and tricked them which is why Mozzie made sure to have the upperhand for as long as possible.  
The suit was silent for a minute or two, presumably going over his options.   
“Okay deal.”  
He finally told them and they shook on it before the suit left to find place that would not only be able to take care of two children but could also keep them safe.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay I managed to actually get an update out in a week like I hoped :D  
> For those of you who wants to know I have a cat now, he's a longhaired white cat with the greenest eyes I've ever seen and his name is Tellus.   
> He is not a fan of my fics though because he always tries to stop me from writing them :P

CHAPTER 12

Peter couldn't believe his ears when Mozzie revealed that their uncle had been involved in the robberies they was currently investigating and that the eight-year-old knew enough about it to bring Keller down.   
Their perp had been right there, standing in their bullpen and they had no idea.   
It did explain why he had immediately gotten a bad feeling about the man.  
Peter didn't think that Mozzie was tricking him because even if anyone could know about all the addresses since the newspapers had written about the robberies, Mozzie had mentioned the addresses to the robberies that the FBI thought was connected, which was something they hadn't shared with the media yet.  
Peter tried to get the boy to talk but Mozzie demanded to get his part of the deal first, which was smart of him considering the fact that Peter could easily screw them over since he had a greater power than the two kids.   
He agreed to the deal before he left the room to see if the social worker had showed up yet. 

The social worker was a woman in her 50s who looked like she desperately needed a vacation.   
She forced a smile when Peter approached her and she handed him two folders, each containing a presentation of foster parents.   
"These families both meet your demands when it comes to quality, location and security. The Bakers are looking for a younger child while the eight-year-old would be perfect for the Parkers."  
He quickly looked through the folders and even if the families seemed perfect, he knew that the children wouldn't care one bit.   
"I just spoke to the boys and they can't be separated."  
"I tried to find a family that was both meeting the demands and could take them both in but I came in short. There might be perfect foster parents that show up or maybe I can convince a family to reconsider but that can take everything from a week to months. Until then it's either this or a group home."  
They had already decided to not send the kids to a group home since it was harder for them to keep the kids safe there, there were too many children and too many people who came and went.   
So it seemed like they had come to a standstill, there was no family that could both keep them safe and take care of two kids.  
Mozzie would not be happy if the agent went back on their deal and neither would Peter, not only because he wanted his part of the deal but also because he had seen how close the brothers was, he had seen how Neal looked up to his older brother while Mozzie would sacrifice his life, without hesitation, if it was for the sake of Neal.   
It would break his heart to separate the brothers who were so dependent on each other.   
It was that thought that gave him an idea, perhaps it was a bad one but it was at least worth a shot.  
He picked up his phone and called his wife, explaining the situation to her.   
Elizabeth had a bigger heart than anyone he had ever known and he knew that she would think that separating the boys would be absolutely heartbreaking as well.   
They were foster parents, they had the ability of taking in both of the children and what could be safer for them than the house of a federal agent?  
Of course, it all depended on Elizabeth and if the will to help the brothers were greater than her fear. "I don't know, hon."  
She answered, in an insecure voice, when he had proposed his idea.   
"It would only be a temporary solution, just until they find someplace else."  
His wife sighed before being quiet for a minute or two, thinking it over.   
At last she sighed again as her empathy for the kids conquered her fear.   
"Okay but just until they find another family."  
"Thanks hon, I love you."  
"Love you too."  
Peter hung up the phone before he walked back to the social worker to tell her that he and his wife would temporarily foster the boys. 

Peter received two thin folders, one for each child, who contained information about the brothers.   
There wasn't that much information about them since Keller becoming their legal guardian after their mother's death meant that they had never officially been in the system before.   
He flipped through the folders as he walked back to the conference room, he learned that Neal didn't talk much at all.   
Peter had just assumed that the four-year-old was just shy but as it turns out the boy had for some reason chosen to speak as little as possible.   
He opened Mozzie's file just as he sat down and he couldn't stop himself from chuckling.   
"Your name is Mozart?"  
He asked with an amused smile while Mozzie gave him a very unamused look.   
Neal giggled, finding his brother's name just as amusing as Peter.   
"Our dad lost a bet."  
Mozzie grumbled before giving his brother a dark look to make him stop giggling.   
"Where are we going to stay?"  
Mozzie asked, eager to change the subject.  
"With me."  
"Sorry, what?"  
"My wife and I are foster parents and we are willing to take you in until we find something else."  
"No offense suit but I'm not staying with a fed!"  
Mozzie exclaimed, making Peter yet again wonder why an eight-year-old had such a negative picture of the FBI.   
"I'm sorry Mozzie but it's that or getting seperated."  
The boy slumped his shoulders in defeat and mumbled a "fine."  
Peter left the room again and asked Jones to go to the store and buy car seats so that he could drive home, knowing that the children were safe in case of an accident.   
"What do you need to buy car seats for?"  
Diana asked once Jones had left.   
"We're fostering the brothers but just temporarily."  
"Elizabeth okay with it?"  
Diana and Jones were the only ones, apart from family and El's best friends, that knew about the struggles they had gone through and the fear that Elizabeth was currently battling with.   
"Yes of course, I wouldn't do this without her being okay with it."  
Diana nodded before she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.   
"Maybe they could help you heal."

Peter looked over his shoulder to make sure that the boys were still following him.   
The both were walking slowly and looking around them, taking in the new environment.   
They reached the door and Peter opened it up before they all walked inside.   
Satchmo came running which caused Neal to quickly hide behind his brother but the dog found him anyway and the little boy repeated the word no over and over again while he backed away from the dog.   
"He's afraid of dogs."  
Mozzie pointed out as Peter got the dog away from the young child.   
The commotion got Elizabeth's attention and she came to greet them with a nervous look on her face.   
"Hello, I'm Elizabeth I'm Peter's wife."  
She introduced herself and Mozzie got closer and politely shook her hand.   
"I'm Mozzie and this is my brother Neal."  
He said looking at the younger boy who had returned to him and was pressing himself against his side.   
Elizabeth crouched down in front of Neal.  
"I saw the drawing you made for Peter, it's really good."  
Neal slowly turned his face so that it was no longer pressed against Mozzie and gave the woman a small smile.  
Elizabeth stood up and put out her hand for Neal to take.   
"Come here I want to show you something."  
Neal looked back at Mozzie and after receiving a reassurring nod, he dared to take her hand.   
Elizabeth led him into the kitchen, probably to show him that they had the drawing up on the fridge.  
Once his little brother was gone, Mozzie turned to Peter and gave him a sad look.   
"You are going to break his heart."  
The kid said and Peter was taken aback by the words but he never got the chance to ask for an explanation before Neal came running and grabbed Mozzie's hand, pulling it as a way to tell his brother to come with him.   
They both followed Neal back to the kitchen, where he pointed at the drawing.  
"Look, Mozzie, look!"  
Neal said with a proud look on his face.   
Peter glanced over at Elizabeth who was looking at the boys with such affection that it was hard to believe that this was kids she had met just a minute ago.   
It looked like the brothers were already helping Elizabeth heal.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I planned to get this update written much earlier but then Sweden was given the hottest summer in over 200 years and my brain practically melted.   
> That being said any mistakes made is the weather’s fault :)
> 
> Also I was accepted into a writing course at the university and it’s thanks to my fanfiction writing, and all the motivating words from readers, that I had the motivation to apply to it so I just want to say a big thank you for giving me confidence in my writing :)

CHAPTER 13

Even if he had made a deal with the suit, Mozzie was still afraid of being separated.   
There was always a chance that there was no one willing to take them both and they would be forced to go different ways, deal or no deal.   
If that would be the case, Mozzie had no back up plan and that scared him but he tried to not show it.   
Every time Neal looked at him with those big blue eyes that were filled with fear, Mozzie assured him that they would be sticking together.  
He just really hoped that they wouldn't make him a liar.   
It felt like it took an eternity before the suit finally returned and when he did, he was looking through some folders.   
“Your name is Mozart?”  
The suit asked with an amused smile and Mozzie answered him by giving him a not so amused look while Neal giggled next to him.   
Mozzie could still remember the day that their father was forced to sit down with him and explain to him how a stupid, drunken bet had given him his name.   
Apparently, their parents had argued quite a lot about his name but his mother had eventually given in on the conditions that they used the nickname “Mozzie” and that she got to name all other children.  
Mozzie was eager to move away from the subject and instead move on to where they were going to stay.   
The suit's answer put a smile on Neal's face while it did the complete opposite to Mozzie, sure he would stay with his brother but there was no way he would stay with a freaking suit.   
He informed the suit of this but was informed that it was either the suit's house or being separated and one look on his brother was enough for him to realize that he had no choice but to stay with the suit. 

The neighbourhood looked really nice and so did the house, if it weren't for the fact that it was the house of a suit then Mozzie might have actually liked it.   
They walked inside and the first thing that happened was that a big golden retriever came running towards them and his little brother hid behind him.   
He could remember “saving” his brother from a big street dog a couple months back.   
No matter how many times Mozzie tried to explain to the four-year-old that the dog just wanted his hot dog, the younger boy thought that the dog was trying to hurt him and had been terrified of dogs ever since.   
The suit got the dog away from Neal for now but Mozzie knew that it would be hard to have the dog and his little brother in the same house.   
Mrs. Suit came to introduce herself before leading his brother away and once they had left he turned to the agent.   
“You are going to break his heart.”  
Mozzie told him, he knew that Neal was just getting more and more attached to the agent and he knew his brother well enough to know that he would get attached to a life with them.  
Neal's poor little heart would break from being separated from the agent, that he had gotten so connected with for some reason, once they found another place for the boys to stay.   
The suit didn't get a chance to respond before tiny footsteps approached them and Neal dragged him along to show him the drawing on their fridge.   
His baby brother was so proud of that drawing and Mozzie gave him encouragement even if he saw it as just another thing that tricked Neal into believing that this couple actually cared for him.

Mrs. Suit showed them upstairs, where she had prepared the guest room for them.   
“You're going to have to share a bed for now if that's okay.”  
“It's okay, we're used to it.”  
To be honest at this point they were more than used to it, they were dependent on it and he didn't think that neither of them would be able to sleep without the other one next to them.  
She left the room so that they could unpack the bag that they had brought with them from Keller's apartment.   
They didn't have many things really, just some clothes they had stolen since Keller didn't care if they had clothes or not, and Neal's teddy bear.   
Mozzie put their clothes in the drawer before putting Neal's teddy on the bed so that Neal had it there with him when it was time for them to go to bed.   
After doing that Mozzie walked downstairs again, with Neal in tow, but stopped in the living room.   
He felt very awkward, it felt weird to be in someone else's home and to live there, it had been different when they had moved in with Keller who was their uncle and who had very clear rules but here Mozzie didn't even dare to touch anything.   
He had no idea what kind of rules they had or what could make them angry.   
“Hi boys.”  
Mozzie looked up and saw that the suit had noticed their arrival.  
“Elizabeth is making dinner but it will probably be a while. What do you guys want to do in the meantime?”  
It was clear that the agent had picked up on their awkwardness and was trying to activate them instead of just letting them stand there in the middle of the room, doing nothing.   
“Drawing.”  
Neal said and the suit nodded before disappearing into the kitchen for a minute before returning with a couple of blank papers, a ballpoint pen and a pencil.   
“We don't have any crayons or colour pencils but is this okay for now?”  
He asked and the four-year-old nodded before he took the supplies and sat down on the floor, immediately coming up with something to draw.   
“What about you Mozzie?”  
“Can I watch TV?”  
The suit nodded and showed him how to change the channels before he walked into the kitchen to help his wife with dinner. 

As soon it was announced that dinner was served, the boys rushed to the table and sat down.   
Mozzie couldn't believe how good it looked and he had to stop himself from grabbing the form of lasagna and devour it like some sort of wild animal.   
His brother seemed to be thinking the same thing because as soon as he got food on his plate, he immediately started to practically inhale the food.   
“Neal please slow down before you choke or something.”  
He told his little brother before he nervously looked over at the adults, worried that Neal's behaviour would annoy them but the adults just looked amused.  
“Didn't your uncle feed you?”  
The suit asked and it was clear that it was meant as a lighthearted comment but his face quickly fell when he saw how the children looked at each other.  
The agent looked embarrassed for not considering that it could be a possibility in their case.   
Mozzie thought about telling them about how they, aside from the last week, had been forced to steal their food in order to survive because Keller had in fact not been feeding them but he decided not to.   
He didn't feel like telling a fed that he was housing two pintsized criminals and he didn't want them to pity the brothers more than they already did.   
The suit apologized and Mozzie told him that it was fine and then the rest of the dinner was more or less a conversation between Mozzie and Mrs. Suit.  
She asked him simple questions, that didn't risk upsetting them, and Mozzie answered them.   
She tried to ask the four-year-old some questions as well but when the kid remained silent she either moved on or Mozzie answered for him. 

After dinner they were given ice cream as dessert, which was a very rare treat for the boys and they enjoyed every single bite.   
Then they all sat down in front of the TV, except for Neal who ended up sprawled out on the floor with his papers again, and watched some animated, low budget kid friendly movie.  
It felt weird for Mozzie because it was a long time since he had a family moment like this and he wondered if Neal could even remember when their own family used to sit and watch movies just like this.   
He didn't know how long they had been sitting there when they all heard a pen drop to the floor.   
Neal had at some point fallen asleep, his head resting on Satchmo's body.   
Mozzie guessed that his brother had been so tired that he hadn't realized that the soft, fluffy thing was the dog that he was so terrified of.   
“I think it's time for us to go to bed.”  
“Mozzie you can stay up for a while if you want to.”  
Mrs. Suit offered while she looked at the clock, seeing that it was kind of early for an eight-year-old to go to bed.   
Mozzie told them that he was pretty tired too, which was way easier than trying to get Neal to go to bed alone.  
He got up from the couch and crouched down next to his brother and gently shook him awake.   
“It's time to go to bed now, kid.”  
He told him and Neal nodded before sitting up, rubbing his eyes before he looked down at let down a shriek as he realized what his pillow was. 

They changed into their PJs and Mozzie thought that they were all set for bed until he turned around and saw Neal's lower lip wobble and he instantly knew what was wrong, the teddy was no longer on the bed.   
Mozzie frantically started to search the room while the tears started to roll down Neal's cheeks.   
“What's going on?”  
He suddenly heard the suit ask and he turned around to see the adults standing in the doorframe, looking at the crying boy, unsure on if they should try to comfort him.   
“Neal's teddy is gone. He won't stop crying until he got it.”  
He told them and the adults immediately started to help him look for the missing teddy while Neal's crying just got louder and louder.   
Mozzie grew more and more desperate for every minute that passed, he really hated hearing Neal cry.  
He even started to question if he had really had the teddy before or if he had somehow just imagined it.   
“Found it!”  
The suit suddenly called from downstairs and soon he came up with the teddy in his hand.   
He gave the teddy to Neal who immediately stopped crying and instead crawled into the bed, hugging the bear close to his chest.   
“Looks like we've got a four-legged thief.”  
The agent explained while Mozzie crawled into the bed with his brother.   
“Good night boys.”  
“Good night.”  
Mrs. Suit placed a gentle, motherly kiss on each boy's forehead before reaching for the lamp placed on the bedside table.   
“No!”  
He told her sharply and grabbed her arm to stop her.   
Both of the adults gave him a confused look.   
“Leave it on. Neal is scared of the dark.”  
He told them before looking at his brother and even if the child was already fast asleep, he didn't want to risk Neal waking up to darkness.   
The adults left the light on and left the room after telling Mozzie that they were just downstairs if he needed anything.   
Mozzie wasn't tired at all but he didn't dare to leave the bed in case Neal woke up.   
While he was lying there, waiting for the tiredness to come he couldn't help to think that maybe living with a suit wasn't that bad.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say that there will be some swearing in this chapter. I personally have no problem with swearing but I know some people do, so I thought better safe than sorry :)

CHAPTER 14

Peter followed Satchmo as the dog eagerly trotted through the hallway, ready for his morning walk.  
He stopped, much to the dog's dismay, outside the guest room and peered inside and saw that the boys were still asleep.   
Mozzie had his arm wrapped tightly around his little brother while Neal had one arm around his teddy and the other hand were up by his mouth, the thumb placed in the kid's mouth.   
The children looked even more adorable when they were asleep and it was hard to take his eyes off them.   
Peter stood there watching them for longer than he intended and eventually the dog lost his patience, gently pushing his master's leg with his head.   
“Okay boy, we're going.”  
He whispered to the impatient dog before taking one long last look at the adorable brothers. 

When Peter and Satchmo came back inside, Elizabeth had gotten up and judging by the smell, she was making pancakes.   
He walked into the kitchen and put some food in Satchmo's bowl before walking over to his beautiful wife and putting his arms around her before he placed a loving kiss on her temple, telling her a good morning.   
Elizabeth smiled and told him good morning too before she asked him to set the table.  
Out of habit he only grabbed two plates from the cupboard before he remembered their two little guests and he took out two more while failing to stop himself from smiling like an idiot.   
Peter had always wanted a family and even if he knew that the kids were only a temporary addition to the Burke household, he really enjoyed having children in the house.   
As he was putting down their plates, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and soon the boys appeared, both of them dressed in ill-fitting clothes which made Peter glad that he and El had talked last night and decided to take the boys shopping.   
They had guessed that the kids didn't have the best clothes, a guess that apparently had been correct, and they had decided that both of them would take the day off and go to the mall.   
They had also decided to pick up some toys, book, crayons and other things that the kids could need since it didn't matter to the Burkes if the boys would stay here for just a week or if they would stay for a month, they still wanted them to have a good time while they were here.  
Neal suddenly squeaked as Satchmo approached them, wanting to greet them, and the four-year-old left his brother's side and ran and hid behind Peter's leg while the dog stopped, looking confused.   
“Satchmo's not dangerous, Neal. He's a good boy.”  
Peter tried, making Satchmo's tail wag, but Neal didn't listen.   
“Bad dog. He bite.”  
The kid mumbled and Satchmo actually looked offended by Neal's words and decided to greet the older boy instead and Mozzie happily greeted the dog back.

Despite having two adults with him, Mozzie was watching the energetic four-year-old like a hawk.   
It was cleat to Peter that the eight-year-old was used to looking after his younger brother and the more he watched the kids, the more Mozzie looked like a parent instead of the child that he was.  
On one hand he had to applaud the kid for stepping up and being mature enough to care for both himself and for Neal when there was no one else but on the other hand it was incredibly sad that Mozzie had been forced to grow up so fast.  
Peter made himself a promise to help Mozzie learn to trust adults again, so that he could enjoy his childhood again instead of having to act like an adult.  
“Why don't we go and try these on?”  
Peter's thoughts were interrupted by his wife's question and saw her holding up a bunch of different clothes for the boys.  
It had been apparent from the second they stepped into the store that picking out children's clothes was something that brought her joy and she had spent the past half hour or so picking out clothes while Neal ran around, wanting to look at everything while Peter and Mozzie watched him.  
Neal stopped running and looked at the clothes Elizabeth had with an excited look on his face while Mozzie just looked uncomfortable.  
“The clothes we have are fine, you shouldn't have to spend money on us.”  
The kid said and it was sad that it had been so long since an adult had provided for these kids.   
After all, feeding and clothing the kids were two of the basic tasks in being a parent or a guardian and Peter couldn't believe that Keller hadn't even been bothered to do that.  
“We want to.”  
Elizabeth just answered, in a firm tone that left no room for protests.  
Mozzie didn't say anything else but he still looked uncomfortable as they walked over to the fitting rooms to try on the clothes.   
After picking out several outfits for them, they paid and Peter didn't miss how Mozzie looked even more uneasy when he saw the total.   
They left the store and moved on to a toy store where the younger child was even happier, running around and looking at every single item with amazement while the older paid more attention to what Neal was doing than the toys surrounding him.  
The boy even acted as a parent in a place that should be like heaven for a child.   
They were told that they could pick out three items each and as expected Neal looked like he was about to burst with excitement and ran off, Elizabeth following, while Mozzie barely reacted.   
“You should give my choices to Neal instead.”  
Mozzie told Peter and it was unbelievable how unselfish this kid was, even when he didn't have to he still chose to sacrifice things to make his brother happy.   
“It's okay to want things for yourself, Mozzie.”  
Peter told him but didn't want to force him to choose something.  
Mozzie walked around for a while, clearly thinking it over, before something caught his attention and he slowly walked towards if, as if he was afraid to show that he had seen something he liked.   
In the end both boys ended up picking out three things each, Neal chose an art kit, a pack with toys looking like various wild animals and a police car while Mozzie chose a spy gear kit, a box of Legos and, to Peter's amusement, he also chose a cuddly toy that looked like a pigeon and named it Estelle.

They also bought some books for the children, Neal wanted the books with colourful, fun pictures while Mozzie picked books about science, history and even one about conspiracy theories, something that caused Peter to frown but he didn't say anything.  
Apart from that they also picked up a couple of child appropriate board games, some additional art supplies and a nightlight for Neal.  
Then they sat down and had some ice cream before leaving the mall, all of them wearing genuine smiles.   
Neal was so eager to get back to the car so that they could return to the house and play, that he completely forgot about the strict rule to hold someone's hand.   
Before anyone had the chance to react, the kid darted away.  
They heard the screeches of the tires before they saw the car that had been forced to slam on the brakes when the little boy came running.  
Peter swore that his heart stopped when he saw that the car had stopped just a couple of centimeters from Neal and he realized that if the driver hadn't been so quick on their feet then Neal would have been hit by the vehicle.  
The car honked loudly, the driver just annoyed and not concerned about almost hitting a child, and the little kid managed to move to the side and let the car pass, despite being in total shock.  
Mozzie was the first one to unfreeze and he marched over to his brother.  
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”  
He yelled before shoving Neal so hard that the younger fell to the ground.  
“Mozzie!”  
Elizabeth had managed to get through the shock as well and tried to reprimand the boy in a slightly shaky voice, but she was just ignored.  
“I have told you a million times, Neal! Why don't you ever listen, you stupid idiot?!”  
Mozzie's voice broke and it was clear that he had started to cry in the midst of the yelling.  
The older brother's anger and harsh words came from the fear that they all had felt when the car almost hit Neal.   
Peter managed to move and together with Elizabeth he hurried over to the boys, their bags left on the ground.   
Elizabeth grabbed Mozzie, hugging him as he cried while Peter walked over to Neal, who was still on the ground, too shocked by the encounter with the car and his brother's anger to move.   
The agent picked up the child and held him tightly to his chest, suddenly afraid to let the boy go.

When they arrived home, they were all still pretty shaken up, especially the children.   
Mozzie had spent the entire ride avoiding to even look at his brother while tears still rolled down his cheeks and Neal spent the entire ride looking at his brother with his huge, blue puppy eyes.   
When they got out of the car, Neal tried to grab Mozzie's hand but the older boy backed away from him.  
Neal looked really lost and sad, Mozzie had probably never been this mad at him before and Peter felt bad for the little guy even if he could completely understand the older boy who had almost lost his little brother because said little brother hadn't followed a simple rule.  
They walked inside and place the bags in the living room before Peter and Elizabeth looked at each other, none of them knowing what to do.   
“Leave me alone, Neal!”  
They looked over to see Mozzie pushing Neal again, although this time much gentler.   
It was a surreal thing to see since the brothers had been so attached to each other before and it had seemed to be impossible for one of them to be mad at the other.   
Peter had thought that they would never have to worry about the boys not getting along.  
“Maybe we should split them up and let Mozzie cool off?”  
Elizabeth suggested and Peter agreed.   
They ended up deciding that Peter would take Satchmo for a walk and bring Neal with him, so that he could talk to him but also get more used to the dog in the process, while El would stay inside and help Mozzie cool off.

Neal had reluctantly followed Peter outside, staying by the agent's left side while Satchmo stayed on the right side.   
They walked in silence until they reached a park where Peter sat down on the bench and after some slight hesitation, Neal joined him.   
“Do you know why your brother is angry at you, Neal?”  
Neal nodded.   
“Why is he angry?”  
He asked, trying to get the kid to talk more.   
“Ran.”  
The boy mumbled, hanging his head in shame.  
“Mozzie have told you not to run off like that, right?”  
“Yes.”  
“Then why did you run?”  
Neal stayed quiet for a couple of seconds as if he was trying to figure it out himself.  
“Dunno, 'cited.”  
The boy answered with a shrug, failing to pronounce the word “excited”.  
“It doesn't matter if you're excited, you shouldn't run like that because, as you noticed, it's very dangerous. Your brother is angry because he got very scared, we all got scared.”  
Neal looked up at him and his eyes were filled with tears and Peter knew that the child really understood that he had done something wrong, how much he had scared his brother and how close it had been to him getting seriously injured.  
“Sorry.”  
“I think your brother is the one who really needs an apology right now.”  
Neal nodded before Peter grabbed the little guy and pulled him up in his lap, hugging him as the kid cried.   
Peter felt good that the child had understood and hoped that this incident had taught him to never do something like that again, and he also felt good because he really felt like a father.

Once the boy had calmed down, they walked back to the house and Neal held his hand the entire wat back as if to prove that he could follow the rule.   
Neal seemed nervous when they got inside and he stayed behind Peter as they walked into the living room.  
Elizabeth and Mozzie was sitting by the table and each of them had a wine glass in front of them, both glasses filled with a dark red liquid.   
Peter gave his wife a questioning look and she just smiled.   
“It's grape juice, don't worry.”  
Elizabeth said, looking amused by the thought of Peter even for a second believing that she would give an eight-year-old wine.   
Mozzie looked over at them and luckily the anger seemed to be completely gone and had been replaced with a big smile.   
To Peter's surprise, Elizabeth and Mozzie seemed to have bonded while they were gone.   
Neal dared to leave Peter and walked over to his big brother.   
“Sorry Mozzie.”  
The child said, regret evident on his face and Mozzie got up from his chair and enveloped his little brother in a hug.  
“I'm sorry for calling you mean things and pushing you.”  
Mozzie said and it was nice to see that the kids were getting along again, even if the anger hadn't lasted for that long.  
Peter looked over at Elizabeth and they shared a smile, maybe they weren't too bad at this whole parenting thing.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this update took so long.   
> I wanted to update this much sooner but unfortunately life got in the way.   
> I've been forced to use all my writing inspo for my uni course,which is pretty boring at the moment.   
> My brother also had a baby, which sadly for many reasons isn't directly a positive thing for me.   
> My best friend more or less abandoned me and my mental health has been at an all time low, my depression has made me sleep for 15-18 hours a day or to have completely insomniac nights. 
> 
> Warning, I did both write and edit this chapter while I was severly sleep deprived so I do apologize if there are more errors than usual or if the “quality” is lower than usual. 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading :)

CHAPTER 15

Mozzie hadn't wanted to push his brother but the fear and anger had completely taken over.   
Neal had ran out in front of cars so many times, never learning that it was a dangerous thing to do, but it had never been this close.   
Every time Mozzie closed his eyes, he could picture his tiny little brother being hit by the big car.   
Neal, the suit and Satchmo left the house and left him behind with Mrs. Suit.  
Mrs. Suit didn't say anything, she just got two wineglasses and filled one of them with wine and the other one with grape juice before taking a sip of hers.   
She didn't say anything, she just patiently waited for Mozzie to make the first move and eventually he did.   
He walked over to the table and took a sip of his juice.   
Mozzie didn't know what it was, if it was the fact that she wasn't pushing him or if it was the kind look on her face that reminded him so much of his mother, but suddenly he started to talk.   
He told her about how Neal always did that and how scared he was every time, especially this time.  
It was incredibly easy to talk to her, even if she didn't say much herself it was clear that she was listening to him.   
It had been a while since Mozzie had been able to talk about something that had affected him and have someone who actually listen and understand.  
He had always bottled up his feelings, no matter how much he wanted to talk about things, because Keller didn't care and Neal was a little too young for deep conversations.   
When the others returned, he realized that talking about the incident had caused his anger to disappear.   
Neal apologized for the incident and Mozzie really hoped that the kid had learned something from this experience, but didn't dare to hope for too much.   
Mozzie hugged him before apologizing for calling him mean things and pushing him, and just like that they were back to their old selves, it was like they had never fought in the first place. 

After the whole apology thing Mrs. Suit had suggested that they played one of the new board games and everyone agreed.   
They ended up choosing Monopoly Junior and aside from needing some help to count his money and read the cards, Neal was a master at the game.   
Mozzie of course quickly noticed the reason behind Neal's success, when he saw how the four-year-old managed to slip in an extra bill or two every time he got money from the bank.   
The adults were completely unaware of the cheating and Mozzie decided to not call him out, he just felt proud that he had managed to teach his brother those skills.  
It wasn't until their third time playing, the suit was apparently very competitive and really wanted to win at least once, that Mozzie gently nudged Neal and gave him a pointed look.   
Neal stopped cheating and the agent could finally win a round. 

When it was time for dinner, Mrs. suit didn't even have to ask if they all wanted to help.   
After all the fun they'd had playing the board game, Mozzie realized that spending time with a suit and his wife was actually good.   
Mozzie was given the task of peeling potatoes while Neal was allowed to help the suit chop vegetables for the salad and Mrs. Suit was in front of the stove.   
Even if they all had different tasks, it was still fun to be together.   
The agent kept telling them bad jokes he had read somewhere, his wife kept groaning at the terrible punchlines and Neal kept trying to eat the chopped vegetables, giggling every time the suit stopped him.   
Mozzie looked over at the others with a big smile before a memory popped up in his head and caused the smile to fade away again.   
When he looked at them, they reminded him so much of his family, his family had always cooked together unless his dad was working late.  
Mozzie could clearly remember the last time they had cooked together, it had been the day before his dad left for work and never returned home.  
His father had been chopping vegetables, just like the suit, while singing along to ABBA's Dancing Queen that had been playing on the radio and his mother had been in front of the stove, just like Mrs. Suit, dancing to the music and stirring the pot while carrying his giggling two-year-old little brother on her hip.  
“Mozzie are you alright?”  
Mozzie was brought back to reality by Mrs. Suit's voice and he realized that he had completely frozen in place and now they were all staring at him.  
“Yeah I'm fine, I just got lost in thought.”  
He answered before he peeled the last two potatoes and excused himself to go to the bathroom.

Mozzie looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes had glazed over with unshed tears and he quickly wiped at his eyes, refusing to cry.  
He was sad because he missed his parents so much but he was also angry because he had been stupid enough to let himself get tricked.  
He had let his guard down and for a while his mind had been tricked into enjoying the “family activities.”  
Playing the game and cooking together had been really fun and for a moment he had forgotten that they weren't some happy family.   
Mozzie couldn't let himself forget that again because if he started to enjoy the Burkes' company then it would hurt way too much once they had to leave.   
He knew that this was only temporary and Neal had already gotten way too attached and would end up heartbroken.   
Mozzie couldn't let himself get hurt, he needed to focus on his brother once they left and pick up those pieces.   
He couldn't let himself enjoy this too much, he couldn't let his guard down again and be as naïve as Neal.  
He couldn't let himself get attached to a suit or his wife, no matter how easy she was to talk to. 

When Mozzie returned to the kitchen he tried to pretend that nothing had changed but Mrs. Suit quickly noticed that his smile wasn't as genuine as before so he lied and told them that his stomach was upset.  
He just couldn't enjoy it anymore, even if he wanted to.   
It was like every time a happy feeling or thought entered his brain, it was quickly surrounded by all his previous thoughts and the happiness was eaten alive.   
He couldn't even enjoy the movie that they decided to watch after the dinner and eventually he lied and said that he needed to rest before he went upstairs.   
Mozzie changed into his pajamas before crawling under the covers, hoping that he would fall asleep.   
He wasn't tired enough to fall asleep, so instead he spent over an hour just staring at the ceiling while the two different parts kept fighting in his head.   
One part was telling him that the adults weren't that bad while the other part was telling him that he needed to protect himself.   
When he heard footsteps ascending the stairs, he turned so that he faced the wall before closing his eyes, pretending to sleep.   
He heard whispering before he felt the bed dipping next to him before he felt a soft hand, most likely Mrs. Suit's, gently caressing his cheek before they left the room.   
Luckily it appeared that Neal had been asleep and had been carried in here, something that was confirmed when he turned around to face him.   
He knew that the longer he acted differently, the more Neal would notice it and eventually he would get nosy about why Mozzie was acting differently, not giving up until Mozzie had told him and he really didn't want to burden his brother.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say that I really appreciate all the kind comments, even if I'm not always responding (because I'm too socially awkward)  
> I do apologize for any mistakes or if any of the writing seems rushed, especially this chapter that turned out a little shorter than usual.  
> I did kinda rush to get this together since it's my birthday the 13th and I have decided to gift myself a week off from the stress of writing, social media and internet in general and just spend some time with my family, my friends and my beloved cat. 
> 
> As always thank you so much for reading :)

CHAPTER 16

It was unbelievable that a whole week had passed since the two boys came to stay with them, on one hand it felt like they had only just arrived and on the other it felt like they had always been with them.   
Peter had noticed a change in Elizabeth, it was subtle but it was definitely there.   
It seemed as if her smiles were slightly bigger, her laughs were a little louder and her eyes shone a little brighter.   
The kids were giving her joy, the same kind of joy that he had seen when they were younger and had spent an entire evening imagining what it would it be like to have kids together.   
Sure, she still had her moments where she became overwhelmed or started to doubt herself.   
For example there had been one time when he left her alone with Neal while he and Mozzie took Satchmo for a walk and when they had returned home, Neal was in the middle of a fullblown tantrum.   
Elizabeth had cried even more than Neal and had told Peter that she could absolutely not do this anymore, she had been convinced that she was bad at parenting because she couldn't stop the four-year-old's tantrum or help him in anyway.   
She had told him that she couldn't be a fosterparent anymore and she had refused to listen to him.   
However, after Mozzie managed to calm his brother down and Elizabeth had taken a long, warm shower she had happily invited the boys to help her cook and the joy was back on her face.  
Elizabeth was an amazing parent and it was sad to see how her fear made her doubt that. 

It wasn't just Peter and Elizabeth who had gotten used to the boys' presence, all the other had taken a liking to them as well.  
Peter had brought the kids with him to the bureau since they hadn't found a school for them yet.   
Neal had, unsurprisingly, become the favourite, that kid could charm practically anybody without saying a single word.   
Peter actually had to stop the other agents from spoiling the four-year-old too much sugar, the Burkes had learned the hard way that Neal with a sugarhigh was a pure nightmare.   
Mozzie on the other hand became a little less popular than his younger brother.   
The older boy's lower popularity wasn't because he wasn't as cute as his brother or something like that, he was less popular because he kept pestering the agents.   
The eight-year-old would show up at the agent's desks demanding that they tell him the truth about JFK's assassination, the aliens that the government hid in Area 51 or some other conspiracy theory that he was convinced that they knew the truth about.   
Peter had even found the kid snooping around, trying to find the secret files.   
The only person in the office that liked Mozzie the most was Hughes, every time Mozzie tried to demand the truth from him the old man answered with a very cryptic answer that just added fuel to Mozzie's fire.   
His boss actually seemed to enjoy doing this so Peter just let them continue even if he made a mental note to make sure that Mozzie didn't get too devoured by the conspiracies. 

One of Peter's favourite moments was when they, every afternoon, cooked together.   
The activity made them feel like a real family and they all seemed to enjoy, well except for Mozzie that despite the smile on his face, seemed a little less happy than the others.  
Peter put down the knife as his phone rang and he told Neal to help his brother set the table while he stepped away, not wanting the four-year-old to use the knife unsupervised.   
He walked out of the kitchen and once he was out of earshot he answered it.   
It was Diana calling him and she told him that the social worker had managed to find a pair of fosterparents that were willing to take both of the boys in.   
He had to admit that her words made him feel more than a little disappointed, he had gotten used to the children's presence and he didn't feel ready to say goodbye just yet.   
"The only problem is that they live a couple of hours away from the city."  
Diana told him and a part of him thought that it was a good thing since that could make it harder for their uncle to locate them at the same time he wondered if the kids would be willing to leave the city they had called their home for their entire lives.  
Peter looked back at the others as he heard giggling and smiled as he saw Neal giggling on the floor while both Elizabeth and Mozzie had abandoned their tasks and had instead started tickling the boy.  
Satchmo was watching them, his tail wagging back and forth, and in that moment they looked like such a happy family and Peter's heart melted at the adorable sight.   
"Peter, you still there?"  
Diana asked and he was snapped out of his staring.   
"I think the distance will be a problem for the boys, I don't think they want to leave New York."  
He answered, his voice lowered to make sure the others didn't hear him.   
Peter knew he should have at least asked the kids and that he should definitely have talked to Elizabeth but seeing the just now had made him decide that he and Elizabeth couldn't be seperated from the boys just yet.   
"Okay boss, I'll tell them."  
Diana answered and he could hear it in her voice that she knew that the distance thing wasn't the real reason for not accepting the potential fosterhome.   
"Who was it?"  
Elizabeth asked as he returned to them and Peter answered that it was just a work thing before he helped his wife and Mozzie tickle the helpless, giggling four-year-old.


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

Mozzie had to admit that it was getting harder and harder to not let himself enjoy the time spent with the Burkes.   
He also had to admit that it was getting harder for him to not get attatched, especially to Mrs. Suit, He still didn't trust the suit or any of his co-workers, especially not his boss who kept getting into his head with all of the cryptic answers to his questions.   
The agent's wife however was different and the more time he spent with her, the more she started to remind him of his mother, before she got sick.   
Her light laughter, her sparkling blue eyes, her sweet perfume and the way she made him feel seen and understood was all parts of her that was just like his mom.   
A part of him got sad, still feeling the grief that came with losing her, but another part of him made him feel more drawn to her, the similarites making him feel safer and more relaxed in her company.  
It was like there were two parts of him constantly at war with each other.   
One of them was more mature, more reserved, sadder and had a hard time trusting people.   
That was the part that had showed up during their time with Keller and it was the part that had protected him and made him able to take care of himself and his brother.   
The other part was the part that he tried so hard to repress, the part that was a naïve child who wanted to believe that the people around him were good people and who just craved love and attention.   
The first part had become big and strong but it was things like Mrs. Suit's kind smiles, Neal's happy giggles and Satchmo's wet kisses that caused the second part to grow bigger and stronger and wanting to take over.

"Okay Neal, I'm ready you can go get him."  
Mozzie told his brother and the four-year-old ran out of the office to find the agent.   
He looked down at the paper that he had spent the last ten minutes writing on, making sure that it was perfect.   
Since they had come to stay with the Burkes, the suit had been pushing him to tell him about the robberies that his uncle and his partner had performed but Mozzie had refused to talk.   
Their deal had been his words for the promise of them staying together and the suit thought that he had held up his end of the deal but their presence at the Burke residence was only temporary and for all Mozzie knew, the agent would send them off to seperate homes as soon as Mozzie talked.   
He had originally planned on keeping quiet until they found a new, more permanent home but after seeing a man at the supermarket who looked eerily similar to his uncle, he realized the danger of having Keller out there.   
So to protect himself and his little brother, he needed to make sure that their monster of an uncle was caught and locked away.  
He looked up as the small boy returned, his hand holding the suit's hand as he more or less dragged the man into the office.   
"Suit, I have summoned you here to-"  
"Summoned me? You can't summon me to my own office."  
The agent protested before Neal gently pushed against him and when the suit looked down at him, Neal placed his finger over his mouth to tell him to be quiet.  
"I have summoned you here to sign this contract stating that you will hold up your end of the deal even after I talk."  
"Mozzie, I already told you that I would."  
"I don't trust your words, Suit. I want it in writing and Neal, the ladysuit and demisuit will all be my witnessess."  
He said, gesturing to Jones and Diana who was standing behind him. 

Mozzie fidgeted in his seat while the suit found a blank page in his notebook.   
At first he had wanted to record the conversation but Mozzie had refused, not wanting the feds to have a recording with his voice.  
Who knows what they could do with it?  
They could edit it to make it sound like he was saying things that he wasn't.  
The suit called his fear ridiciolus but he still complied.   
He was going to write down what Mozzie said and then let him review it to make sure that his words weren't twisted around.  
"Are you ready?"  
"Do you promise that whatever I say, me and Neal won't get in any trouble?"  
Mozzie knew that they were minors who had been forced into be accomplices but he still wanted to make sure that their actions wouldn't be punished in any way.   
"Unless you two killed someone, I promise that you won't get in any trouble."  
The suit answered and Mozzie nodded before he took a deep breath and started talking.  
Once he started to talk, the words all just flew out of him.   
He told the agent about how Keller and his partner had robbed the museums and how him and Neal had been used to help them.  
The agent was quiet the entire time, he just patiently listened and made notes.   
It wasn't until he was done talking that he noticed how upset he had become, talking about Keller and their time together had managed to cause tears to form in his eyes.   
"Thank you, Mozzie."  
The suit said while giving him a kind smile.  
He seemed to have notice that he had gotten upset because instead of asking any questions, he just closed the notebook and told him that he could go back to his brother, which he did.  
Neal immediately noticed that Mozzie was upset and literally dropped everything to go to Mozzie and hug him tight. 

"Look! They're showing a documentary about conspiracy theories!"  
Mozzie told Mrs. Suit excitedly while the suit groaned.   
"Can I watch it?"  
"Sure."  
She answered and Mozzie smiled before he noticed what time they aired it, it was 30 minutes after they usually went to bed.  
"It's after bedtime. Can we stay up?"  
Elizabeth looked up to see what time it aired before she answered.  
"You can but your brother should go to bed as usual."  
"But we always go to bed together"  
"I know but don't you wanna watch it? You always go to bed for Neal's sake but don't you think that it's time for Neal to learn to go to bed alone?"  
Mozzie looked over at Neal who was happily drawing, and humming to some song that he had heard on the car radio, too lost in his own head to notice that they were talking about him.  
Mozzie did agree that Neal should learn to sleep on his own, it was one to be close to each other when they were staying with Keller but now he was getting a little tired of lying in bed for sometimes an hour or two, waiting for his body to get tired enough to sleep.  
He looked at Mrs. Suit and nodded.  
"We can try."

It was painful and Mozzie couldn't stop himself from crying.  
It had been almost twenty minutes since they had tried to put Neal to bed alone and the four-year-old had been crying and screaming nonstop.  
Normally kids used to wear themselves out while throwing tantrums but not Neal, Mozzie knew that he could go on for hours with no sign of stopping.  
Mrs. Suit held held Mozzie in her arms while the suit struggled with Neal.  
Mozzie had been taught to react to Neal's crying and do everything he could to comfort his little brother and now that he was held back, even if it had been his own choice, he had no choice but to break down himself.  
He didn't know who was suffering the most right now, Neal who was scared of being alone or Mozzie who had to listen to his brother crying out for him, begging him to not leave him alone.  
"Aow! Son of a-"  
They heard the suit say.  
"What happened, hun?"  
Mrs. Suit asked, almost yelling to be heard over Neal's loud crying.  
"He bit me!"  
Mozzie tried to break free from Mrs. Suit's arms, wanting to scold his brother.  
"We agreed that you would stay out of it, right?"  
She said and they had agreed on that, Mozzie had thought that by removing himself from the whole situation, it would be easier for them to get their point across to Neal but that was before he knew how hard that would be.  
Neal called out for him again, sounding more desperate than ever and Mozzie couldn't take it anymore.  
He didn't care about the documentary anymore.  
"Let me go."  
Mozzie asked but she didn't.  
"I'm sorry."  
He said before he took a hold of her arm and bit down on it causing her to let go of him while she swore to herself.  
Mozzie ran from the adults' room, where they had been waiting, and into the guest room where Peter was trying to get Neal to stay in the bed.  
"Mozzie!"  
Neal cried out and Mozzie more or less threw himself at his little brother, hugging him tight.  
Hugging him was like pressing a button, the loud cries and yells disappeared in a second and the house went quiet again.  
Mozzie sighed, wondering if Neal was ever going to be able to be on his own.


End file.
